i
if
THE
CELTIC MAGAZINE:
\^
& JBonthlp
DEVOTED TO THE
LITERATURE, HISTORY, ANTIQUITIES,
FOLK LORE, TRADITIONS,
AND THE
SOCIAL AND MATERIAL INTERESTS OF THE CELT
AT HOME AND ABROAD.
CONDUCTED BY
ALEXANDER MACKENZIE, F.S.A, SCOT,,
Author of " The History and Genealogies of the Clan Mackenzie" ; " The History of
the Macdonalds and Lords of the Isles"; " The History of the Mathesons ";
" The Prophecies of the Brahan Seer" ; " The Historical Tales and
Legends of the Highlands" ; " The History of the Highland
Clearances"; " The IsleofSkye in 1882-83"-, &c>
VOL. VI 1 1.
INVERNESS : A. & W. MACKENZIE, 25 ACADEMY STREET.
1883.
All Rights Reserved.
INVERNESS : PRINTED AT THE COURIER OFFICE.
DA
LIBRARY
728815
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO
CONTENTS.
PAGE
.The History of the Camerons.— The Editor. 1, 81, 97, 145, 301, 370, 415, 467, and 589
The Inveraray Proclamation
Kogart Educational Association and Speech by Mr John Mackay, Hereford ...
The Gaelic Census ... ... ... ••• 17
Professor Blackie and the Land Laws
The Highland Brigade and the Highland Crofters...
Origin of the Names Douglas and Skene.— H. ... 21
Sheriff Mackintosh and the recent Rogart Eviction Trials ... ... 25
The Irish " Comhluchd Clann na'n Gaoidhil '' ... ... ... ... 28
A Run Through Canada and the States.— Kenneth Macdonald, F.S.A. Scot.
29, 89, 109, 229, 275, 360, 429, 479, and 516
The Sutherland Evictions.— A.M.
Altavona— 2nd Notice ... ... ... ... ... ••• ••• 42
Sculptured Stones of Ross & Cromarty.— Captain Colin Mackenzie, F.S.A. Scot. 49
The Late Daniel Mackinlay.— A. M 56
The Highlanders and their Tastes.— Dr Begg
The Glenalmond Highlanders at Wimbledon
Land Nationalisation— Its Necessities and its Aims— Review
Notes and Queries —
The Chief of the Macraes... ... ... ... 67
Rev. Lachlan Mackenzie of Lochcarron
Frater and Fraser ... ... ... ... ... ... 67
Clan Ross ... .. ... ... ... ... ... 177
Memorial to the Late Rev. Alexander Macgregor, M. A. ... ... ... 75
Achaluachrach's Bridal.— M. A. Rose ... ... ... ... ... 76
Death of Lewis ROPS, a Native of Tain, in Canada ... ... ... 80
The Honours of Scotland.— M. A. Rose ... ... ... ... 118 and 202
An Ancient British Hill Fort.— N. M'Neil Brodie ...
Anecdote of " Ali-na-pairc" ... ... ... ... ... ... 126
Mr William Jolly, H.M.I. S. ... ... ... ... 127
Depopulation of the County of Argyll. — A.M. ... ... ... ... 131
General Sir Herbert Macpherson, V.C., K.C.B., K.S.I. By " M.A.R.S." ... 134
First Highland Emigration to Nova Scotia, : Arrival of the Ship " Hector" ...
The Marquis of Bute on Evictions and the Rights of the People .. ... 156
Ethics of Political Economy.— Malcolm Mackenzie. 157, 213, 285, 309, 349, 449, 522, 547
Lia-Fail, or the Scottish Coronation Stone. — H ... ... 168
Our First Celtic Professor ... ... ... ... ... ... 171
On an Ayrshire Custom— Thomas Stratton, M.D. ... ... 177
The Highland Problem and the Government Programme ... ... ... 178
Inverness Gaelic Society — Eleventh Annual Dinner —
Speeches by Sir Kenneth Mackenzie and others ... ... ... 180
Do. Election of Office Bearers ... ... ... ... ... 257
Do. Twelfth Annual Gathering— Patriotic Speech by H. C. Macandrew... 485
The Highland Dress. J. G. Mackay ... ... J97, 245, 320, 381, 445, and 508
The Crofters— Great Meeting in Edinburgh ... ... ... ... 209
Celtic Dyes— H. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 211
Professor Blackie on the Sutherland Clearances ... ... ... ... 228
The Highland Clearances— Press Notices. ... ... ... 241, 347, and 478
Life of John Duncan, Scotck Weaver and Botanist — Review ... ... 242
Carious Superstitions in Tiree. — J. Sands ... ... ... ... 252
Malcolm Mackenzie and the Braes Crofters ... ... ... ... 255
Archbishop Tait in Rannoch. — Rev. John Sinclair ... ... ... 258
The Scotsman, Professor Blackie, and the Highland Crofters ... ... 262
The Perthshire Constitutional sold to Mr Hunter ... ... ... ... 267
A History of Bob Roy by A. H. Millar, F.S.A. Scot. ... ... ... 267
The Royal Commission and the Highland Crofters.— A.M. ... ... 282, 317, and 369
Scottish Myths— Review ... ... ... ... 291
Celtic Mythology.— Alex. Macbain, M.A. ... 293, 341, 389, 437, 491, and 566
The Glendale Crofters' Trial ... ... ... ... ... 307 and 308
The Highland Clearances. -Rev. A. C. Sutherland, B.D. ... ... ... 328
The late Mrs Helen Matheson or Bell 340
iv Contents.
PAGE
Celtic Languages and Literature.— Prize by Professor Blackie ... ... 347
The Glendale Martyrs Liberated ... ... ... ... ... 359
Gaelic Names of Plants — Review ... ... ... ... ... 377
The Celtic Lyre— Review ... ... ... ... ... ... 397
The Long Island. By " Strath-na-sealg " ... ... ... ... 398
The General Assembly of the Free Church and the Highland Crofters ... 407
The Inverness Highland Land Law Reform Association ... ... ... 426
The London Highland Laad Law Reform Association — Speech by Professor Blaokie 427
Remarks by Captain Macleod of Gesto on " Canntaireachd " ... ... 434
A Truly Noble Act— The Earl of Kilmarnock and his Son at Culloden ... 444
The Brave Old Sky e Crofter.— W.M. ... ... ... ... ... 458
Proclamation against Rob Roy Macgregor in 1719 ... ... 476 and 537
A Celtic Department in Mornineside College, Edinburgh ... ... ... 490
Lord President Forbes of Culloden. By H. R. M. ... ... ... 500
" Sin Cnaimh is Cnaim e."— Mary Mackellar ... ... ... ... 507
Cromb's Highlands and Highlanders of Scotland ... ... ... ... 521
" The Isle of Skye in 1882 and 1883" ... ... ... ... 521, 533, and 579
Clarsach-an-Doire — Review ... ... ... ... ... ... 527
The Highlanders of New Zealand and their Dis'ressed Countrymen at Home 531 and 584
The New Canadian Deputy-Minister of the Interior, Mr A. M. Burgess ... 536
The Hon. Alexander Mackenzie, Ex-Premier of Canada, in Inverness ... 538
" Peer-Men " and some of their relations. — George Linn ... 556
Decrees of Removal against Crofters in the Isle of Skye— 1840 to 1883 564
The Kilt after 1745 565
Proposed Civil List to Mary Mackellar ... ... ... ... ... 572
Lower Fishings of the Ness— I.— C. Fraser-Mackintosh, F.S.A. Scot., M.P. ... 573
The Royal Commission and the Scotsman— Letters by Dean of Guild Mackenzie 589
Nether- Locbaber— A Review ... ... ... .. ... ... 582
Droving in 1746 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 586
Completion of our Eighth Annual Volume .. ... ... ... 586
POETRY.
Tne Tartan Avalanche. — Alexander Logan ... ... ... ... 10
My Bonny Rowan Tree.— D. Macgregor Crerar ... ... ... 26
The Greatness of God.— Translated by the Rev. John Sinclair, B.D. ... 58
Lachlan Macdonald of Skeabost.— Professor Blackie ... ... ... 96
Oran Chlann Domhnuill nan Eilean.— Alastair Buidhe Mac lamhair (Alex. Campbell) 107
Mementos of My Father's Grave.— D. Macgregor Crerar . 117
Ex-Voto.— W. A. Sim ... ... ... ... ... 167
A Spray of White Heather. — D. Macgregor Crerar ... 210
Oran na H-oige. — John MacCodrnm ... ... ... 236
Highland Sufferings— Highland Wrongs.— William Allan ... 240
Glenquaich.—D. Macgregor Crerar ... ... 300
Argyll Evictions.— W. C. 0. ... ... 32?
Rob Roy's Death.— Wm. Allan ... ... 343
Plea for being a " Gall."— J. Sands ... 358
An Old Strathnaver Man's Ballad ... ... ... 337
Marbhrann do'n Urramach Alastair MacGhriogair.-Mairi, Nighean'lain Bhain 436
Oran le Iain Mac Mhurchaidh ... ... ... ... 462
Oran do Dh-Iarla Dhunmor.— F. D. MacDhomhnuill 465
To-Morrow. — D. Macgregor Crerar ... ... 563
CORRESPONDENCE.
Origin of the Name Gordon. — William Brockie ... 27
Gaelic Etymologies, and Anecdotes of Sir Allan Cameron of Erracht.— Rev!
Allan Sinclair, M. A. ... ... ... 68
A Celtic Medical College. — " Sgeulaiche" ... ... 71
The Braes Crofters and Lord Macdonald— Correspondence" bet ween Mr Malcolm
Mackenzie, Dean of Guild Mackenzie, and Messrs J. C. Brodie & Sons W S 72
Origin of the Macgillony Camerons.— "Coirre-an-t'Sith" ... ... '.. ' 105
M M — Mary Mackellar 175
Roy's Wif«.- George D. Macnaughtan ... ... 176
Military Ardour of the Highlanders.— A. B. ... 238
History of the Camerons. —Mary Mackellar ... 268
Mr Patrick Sellar and the Sutherland Clearances— Correspondence between
Thomas Sellar and Alex. Mackenzie, editor of the Celtic Maqazine 338
The New French Ambassador to Great Britain.— Captain A. M. Chisholm 505
Proclamation against Rob Roy Macgregor.— A. H. Millar 537
THE
CELTIC MAGAZINE.
CONDUCTED BY
ALEXANDER MACKENZIE, F.S.A., Scot.
No. LXXXV. NOVEMBER 1882. VOL. VIII.
THE HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS.
By the EDITOR.
I.
INTRODUCTORY.
IN an old Manuscript history of this family printed with " The
Memoirs of Locheill" in 1 842, the author says — " The Camerons
have a tradition among them that they were originally descended
of a younger son of the Royal Family of Denmark, who assisted
at the restoration of King Fergus II., anno 404. He was called
Cameron from his crooked nose, as that word imports. But it is
more probable that they were of the aborigines of the ancient
Scots or Caledonians that first planted the country." Skene
quotes the family Manuscript in his " Highlanders of Scotland,"
and agrees with its author that the clan came originally from the
ancient inhabitants of the District of Lochaber. He says, " with
this last conclusion I am fully disposed to agree, but John Major
has placed the matter beyond a doubt, for in mentioning on one
occasion the Clan Chattan and the Clan Cameron, he says, * Hae
tribus sunt consanguinese.' They therefore formed a part of, the
% extensive tribe of Moray, and followed the chief of that race un-
2 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
til the tribe became broken up, in consequence of the success of
the Mackintoshes in the conflict on the North Inch of Perth in
1396," after which the Camerons separated themselves from the
main stem, and assumed a position of independence. Major says
that " these two tribes are of the same stock, and followed one
head of their race as chief." Gregory, who agrees with these other
authorities, says that the Camerons, as far back as he could trace,
had their seat in Lochaber, and appeared to have been first con-
nected with the Macdonalds of Islay in the reign of Robert Bruce,
from whom Agus Og of Isla had a grant of Lochaber. " There
is reason to believe," he continues, " that the Clan Chameron and
Clan Chattan had a common origin, and for some time followed one
chief." They have, however, been separated, according to this
author, ever since the middle of the fourteenth century, if not
from an earlier date. Alexander Mackintosh-Shaw, in his re-
cently published History of the Mackintoshes, makes a sturdy
attempt to upset the authorities here quoted, founding his argu-
ment mainly on a difference between the original edition of Major,
printed at Paris in 1521, and the Edinburgh edition of 1740. We
can only say here that the ingenious argument used appears to us
to weaken rather than strengthen the position taken up by the
author of the Mackintosh History, and in his " Postscript,"
written in reply to Skene's views as set forth in Vol. Ill, Celtic
Scotland, Mr Mackintosh-Shaw modifies what he previously, in
the body of his work, contended for. In this Postscript he
says : — " I have no wish to deny the possibility that the two clans
were connected in their remote origin ; all I say is, that no sufficient
evidence of such connection has yet appeared, and therefore that
no writer is justified in affirming the connection as a fact." Com-
pare this with what he writes at p. 1 29 of the same work, where he
says that the original reading of Major, and the considerations sug-
gested by it, "afford very strong evidence that the statements of
Mr Skene as to the community of stock of Clan Chattan and Clan
Cameron. . . are in reality unfounded." Skene has also to
some extent modified the opinion published by him, in 1837, in his
" Highlanders of Scotland." In that work he maintained that
the famous combat on the North Inch of Perth was fought be-
tween the Mackintoshes and the Macphersons, whereas in his
later work, Celtic Scotland, he comes to the conclusion that the
HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS. 3
combatants were the Mackintoshes and the Camerons. All our
leading authorities are thus now at one on this ticklish question.
Skene's later conclusions on this subject are important. In
his more recent work he informs us that when the Royal forces
attacked Alexander, Lord of the Isles, in 1429, and defeated
him in Lochaber, the two tribes who deserted him and went
over to the Royalists were, according to Bower, the "Clan Katan
and Clan Cameron;" while Maurice Buchanan gives them, "more
correctly, as the Clan de Guyllequhatan and Clan Cameron." On
Palm Sunday, being the 2Oth of March following, the Clan Chat-
tan attacked the Clan Cameron when assembled in a church,
to which they set fire, " and nearly destroyed the whole Clan."
Though it would seem from these statements that all the Cam-
erons and Mackintoshes deserted the Lord of Isles on that
occasion, it is clear that this was not the case, for, after his
restoration to liberty, the Hebridean chief, in 1443, granted a
charter to Malcolm Mackintosh of the lands of Keppoch, and, in
1447, conferred upon him the office of Bailie of the Lordship of
Lochaber. Ample evidence is forthcoming that the Clan Cameron
was by no means totally destroyed as stated by the chroniclers.
" It would thus appear," says Skene, " that a part only of
these two clans had deserted the Lord of the Isles in 1429, and
a part adhered to him ; that the conflict on Palm Sunday was
between the former part of these clans, and that the leaders of
those who adhered to the Lord of the Isles became afterwards re-
cognised as captains of the respective clans. It further appears
that there was, within no distant time after the conflict on the
North Inch of Perth, a bitter feud between the two clans who had
deserted the Lord of the Isles, and there are indications that this
was merely the renewal of an older quarrel, for both clans un-
doubtedly contested the right to the lands of Glenlui and Lochark-
aig in Lochaber, to which William Mackintosh received a charter
from the Lord of the Isles in 1336, while they unquestionably after-
wards formed a part of the territory possessed by the Camerons.
By the later historians one of the clans who fought on the North
Inch of Perth, and who were termed by the earlier chroniclers
Clan Quhele, are identified with the Clan Chattan, and that this
identification is well founded so far as regards that part of the
clan which adhered to the Royal cause, while that, on the part of
4 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
the Clan Cameron who followed the same course, and were
nearly entirely destroyed on Palm Sunday, we may recognise
their opponents, the Clan Kay, is not without much probability."
\Ve consider this highly probable; and the fact that Skene
has found it necessary to depart so far from his earlier theory
gives it greater weight, and now makes it altogether pretty
conclusive.
The Clan Chattan of modern times who followed Mackintosh
as Captain of the clan, consisted of sixteen septs, but the original
Clan Chattan was formed of the Clan Mhuirich, or Macphersons,
the Clan Daibhidh or Davidsons, " who were called the Old Clan
Chattan," and six others, who came under the protection of
the clan, namely the Macgillivrays, the Macbeans, the Clan
MhicGovies, the Clan Tarrel, the Clan Cheann-Duibh, and the
Sliochd-Gowchruim or Smiths. The Clan MhicGovies were a
branch of the Camerons, while the Smiths were the decendants of
the famous Gobha or Smith who took the place of the missing
man at Perth in 1396.
On the other hand, the Camerons at that period consisted of
four branches or septs, known "as the Clan Gillanfhaigh or Gillonie,
or Camerons of Invermalie and Strone ; the Clan Soirlie, or
Camerons of Glenevis ; the Clan Mhic Mhartain, or Macmartins of
Letterfinlay ; and the Camerons of Lochiel. The latter were the
sept whose head became Captain of Clan Cameron and adhered
to the Lord of the Isles, while the three former represented the
part of the clan who seceded from him in 1429. Besides these
there were dependent septs, the chief of which were the Clan Mhic
Gilveil or Macmillans, and these were believed to be of the race
Ilan Chattan. The connection between the two clans is thus
apparent. Now there are preserved genealogies of both clans
ic.r earlier forms, written not long after the year 1429
One 1S termed the 'genealogy of the Clan an Toisig, that
is the C an Gillechattan,' and it gives it in two separate lines,
t represented the Older Mackintoshes. The second
His t "! GlUechattan Mor> ^e eponymus of the clan.
T T MU1'reaCh' fr°m Wh°m the C1*" Mhuirich
' " ?°\ D°mna11 or Donald, called 'an
8 Th0: ?r aspirrd wouid f°rm the —
The chief seat of this branch of the clan
HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS. 5
can also be ascertained, for Alexander, Lord of the Isles and
Earl of Ross, confirms a charter granted by William, Earl of
Ross, in 1338, of the lands of Dalnafert and Kinrorayth or Kin-
rara, under reservation of one acre of ground near the Stychan of
the town of Dalnavert, where was situated the manor of the late
Seayth, son of Ferchard, and we find a \ Tsead, son of Ferquhar,'
in the genealogy at the same period. Moreover, the grandson of
this Seayth was Disiab or Shaw, who thus was contemporary
with the Shaw who fought in 1396. With regard to the Clan
Cameron, the invariable tradition is that the head of the Mac-
gillonies or Macgillanaigh led the clan who fought with the Clan
Chattan during the long feud between them, and the old genea-
ology terms the Camerons Clan Maelanfhaigh, or the race of the
servant of the prophet, and deduces them from a common an-
cestor, the Clan Maelanfhaigh and the Clan Camshron, and as the
epithet ' an Caimgilla,' when aspirated, would become ' Kevil,'
so the word * Fhaigh' in its aspirated form would be represented
by the ' Hay' of the chroniclers. John Major probably gives the
clue to the whole transaction, when he tells us that ' these two
clans' — the Clan Chattan and Clan Cameron, which, as we have
seen, had a certain connection through their dependent septs
' were of one blood, having but little in lordships, but following
one head of their race as principal, with their kinsman and de-
pendents.' He is apparently describing their position before
these dissensions broke out between them, and his description re-
fers us back to the period when the two clans formed one tribe,
possessing the district of Lochaber as their Tuath or country,
where the lands in dispute — Glenlui and Locharkaig — were pro-
bably the official demesne of the 'old Toisech, or head of the
tribe.' "* The ancient and common origin of the Mackintoshes
and Can\erons in that of the Old Clan Chattan will, we think, be
admitted by all whose special theories as to the origin of their
own families will not be upset or seriously affected by an admis-
sion of the fact.
The original possessions of the Camerons were confined to
the portion of Lochaber lying on the east side of the Loch and
River of Lochy, held of the Lord of the Isles as superior. The
more modern possessions of the clan — Lochiel and Lochark-
* Celtic Scotland, Vol. III., pp. 313-318.
6 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
ate—lying on the west side of these waters were at an earlier
period granted by the Island lord to Macdonald of Clanran-
ald, by* whose descendants they were for many generations
inhabited. Skene holds that, as the Camerons are one of
those clans whose chief bore the somewhat doubtful title of
Captain, a strong suspicion exists that the Cameron chiefs were
of a different branch from the older family, and had, in common
with the other families among whom the title of captain is found,
been the oldest cadet, and in that capacity had superseded the
elder branch at a period when the latter became reduced in posi-
tion and circumstances.
The traditionary origin of the Camerons proper clearly
points to the ancient chiefs of the clan, for, continues the same
author, "while they are unquestionably of native origin, their
tradition derives them from a certain Cambro, a Dane, who is
said to have acquired his property with the chiefship of the clan,
by marriage with the daughter and heiress of Macmartin of Let-
terfinlay. The extraordinary identity of all these traditionary
tales, wherever the title of Captain is used, leaves little room to
doubt that in this case the Macmartins were the old chiefs of the
clan, and the Lochiel family were the oldest cadets, whose after-
position at the head of the clan gave them the title of Captain of
the Clan Cameron. There is reason to think that, on the acquisi-
tion of the Captainship of the Clan Chattan, in 1396, by the
Mackintoshes, the Macmartins adhered to the successful faction,
while the great body of the Clan, with the Camerons of Lochiel,
declared themselves independent, and thus the Lochiel family
gained that position which they have ever since retained."* It
* supposed that another circumstance—the desertion of the Lord
)f the Isles by the Clan at Inverlochy in 1431— helped to raise the
leader of the Lochiel Camerons to the chiefship of the whole clan,
at a time when the Macmartins, after the victory of the Lord
the Isles, were furiously attacked, and their leader driven
2 in Ireland, while his followers had to take refuge in the
>re mountainous parts of the Cameron country. The Mac-
s were afterwards unable to assume their former position
' head of their house, and Cameron of Lochiel, the oldest
family, assumed the chiefship of the whole clan,
* Highlanders of Scotland, Vol. II,, pp, 194-195.
HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS. 7
with the title of Captain, and was placed at their head. The
leader who is said to have first taken up this distinguished
position was the renowned Donald Dubh from whom the Came-
ron chiefs take their patronymic of "Mac Dhomh'uill Duibh,"
and of whom at length, in his proper place, hereafter.
According to the Manuscript of 1450, which begins the
genealogy of the MacGillonie Camerons with Ewen, son of Donald
Dubh last mentioned, the descent of the early family chiefs ex-
tend back from Donald's son in the following order : — " Ewen,
son of Donald Dubh, son of Allan Millony, son of Paul, son of
Gillepatrick, son of Gillemartan, son of Paul, son of Millony, son
of Gilleroth,* from whom descended the Clan Cameron and Clan
Millony ; son of Gillemartan Og, son of Gilleniorgan, son of
Gillemartan Mor, son of Gilleewen, son of Gillepaul, son of
Eacada, son of Gartnaid, son of Digail, son of Poulacin, son of
Art, son of Angus Mor, son of Ere, son of Telt."f This genea-
logy clearly refers to the " Maelanfhaigh" or Macgillonie stem of
the family, though it begins with Ewen, son of Donald Dubh,
who died before his father without issue, when he was succeeded
by his brother Donald, who represented and carried on the Came-
ron line of succession, which we shall now proceed to trace from
its original source, so far as we can with the meagre materials
within our reach.
The name Cameron in ancient times was variously written
in such forms as Cameron, Cambron, Cambrun. The first of
which we find any trace is,
i. ANGUS, who married Marion, one of the daughters of
Kenneth III. King of Scotland, and sister of Bancho, Thane of
Lochaber, a fact which amply proves that Angus was a person of
rank and dignity, even at that early period, for Bancho, in addi-
tion to his position as a Royal Prince, was governor of one of the
largest Provinces in the Kingdom, Lochaber being said to com-
prehend, at that time, all the lands between the River Spey and
the Western Sea. Angus is alleged to have been instrumental
* Skene says in a foot-note, Vol. III., Celtic Scotland, p. 480, "This is the
Gilleroth mentioned by Fordun in 1222 as a follower of Macohecan in his insurrec-
tion, along with whom he witnesses a charter as Gilleroth, son of Gillemartan.
t Translated by Skene, and printed with the Gaelic original in Celtic Scotland,
Vol. III. p. 480.
g THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
in saving Flcancc the son of Bancho, and his own lady's nephew,
from the cruelty of Macbeth, and to have been rewarded and
highly esteemed on that account. He is said to have died about
1020, when he was succeeded by his son.
2. GILLESPICK OR ARCHIBALD, who joined the loyalists anc
assisted in the restoration of Malcolm Ceanmore in 1057. For
this service he was, according to the family historian, raised with
many others to the dignity of a « Lord Baron," on the 25th of
April in that year ; but such dignities it seems were not heredit-
ary in Scotland in those days, but ended with the lives of those
on whom they were conferred, though, in many cases, they were
renewed to their sons. This does not appear to have happened
in the case of the Camerons, and the dignity died with its first
possessor. He was succeeded by his eldest son,*
3. JOHN CAMERON, said to have lived in the reign of King
David I., but nothing further is known regarding him. He was
succeeded by his son, or grandson,
IV. ROBERT CAMERON. In a donation to the Monastery
of Cambuskenneth, before 1200, in the reign of William the
Lyon, Henry, Archdean of Dunkeld ; Alexander, Sheriff of Stirl-
ing ; Henry de Lamberton ; and this Robert Cambron, are found
witnesses. He died early in the reign of Alexander II., leaving
issue —
1. John, his heir and successor.
2. Robert de Cambron, whose name is mentioned with that
of his brother in the Chartulary of Scoon in 1239, and is said by
some to have been the progenitor of the Camerons of Strone.
3. Hugo, or Hugh, or Ewen de Cambron, mentioned in the
Chartulary of Arbroath in 1219, but of whose posterity nothing
is known.
Robert Cameron was succeeded by his eldest son,
V. SIR JOHN DE CAMERON, who, as John de Cambrun, is
witness to a donation in favour of the religious house at Scoon in
1 234, with Walter, son of Alan, Lord High Steward and Justiciar of
Scotland ; Walter Cumin, Earl of Menteith ; Adam de Logan ;
John de Haya ; and his own brother, Robert de Cambrun. He
*Hc is said to have had a second son, Angus, who had a son Martin, from whom
ihe Macmartins of Lelterfinlay sprang. This is, however, scarcely consistent with what
is already stated.
HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS. 9
is also mentioned in connection with some marches, in the Diocese
of Aberdeen, in 1233 ; and in 1250 he is found designed "Johannes
de Cambrun, Miles " &c. He had two sons —
1. Robert his heir and successor.
2. John, mentioned in Pryme's Collections in 1296. He is
alleged to have been progenitor of the Camerons of Glen-Nevis.
Sir John died in the reign of Alexander II., and was succeeded by
his eldest son,
VI. SIR ROBERT DE CAMERON, one of those who made
their submission to Edward I. of England, is twice mentioned in
Pryme's collections, first as dominus Robertus de Cambrun, Miles,
and afterwards, in 1296, Robertus de Cambrun, Chevalier. He
was succeeded by his son,
VII. JOHN DE CAMBRUN also known as "John MacOchtery,"
who made a considerable figure in the reign of Robert I., at which
early period this clan is said to have been numerous in Lochaber.
He was one of those who signed the famous letter sent to the
Pope by the Scottish Nobility in 1320, in which they plead for the
King's title to the Scottish Crown, and for the independence of
Scotland. He also joined David II. with a considerable body of his
followers, whom he commanded in the third Division of the Scots
army at the battle of Hallidon Hill, on the i$th of July 1333. He
continued in the King's service until the English were expelled
from the Kingdom, and the King firmly settled in the government
of Scotland. It was in his time that the long continued and
deadly feud between the Camerons and the Mackintoshes first
began, though it was many years after his death before it was
finally brought to a close.*
John was succeeded by his son.
(To be continued.)
* The only Chiefs prior to this period named in the Family MS. are the first two
and the last, Angus, Gillespick, and John. The others are given in Wood's edition
of Douglas's Baronage, where at this point two Johns are given in succession. The
acts ascribed to the two Johns of Douglas's Baronage are ascribed to one John in
the Family MS. We have followed the latter. It is, however, quite impossible
to secure certainty on a genealogical question so remote in the case of any of our
Highland Clans. Referring to these discrepancies, the editor of the " Memoirs" says
that he " has been informed by one of the highest authorities on these subjects, that
the earlier generations contained in Douglas's Baronage, when not fabulous, were
not of the Locheill family, but belonged to the family of Camerons of Balligarnoch in
THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
THE TARTAN AVALANCHE.
Dedicated to Sir Archibald Alison.
Charge, ye noble-hearted heroes,
Make the tyrants backward reel ;
On as did your dauntless fathers
With their trusty Highland steel !
Where the battle fray was fiercest,
They did death and danger spurn,
And their free and fearless spirits
Still within your bosoms burn !
Charge ye Scottish braves in triumph !
Burst the proud oppressor's chains !
Like your own immortal Wallace,
Noble blood rolls through your veins !
Charge for Scotland's stainless honour !
Round her deathless laurels twine !
Make her'golden page of glory
With unfading lustre shine !
Yours the strath of purple heather,
Yours the mountain and the glen ;
Let the despots, by your valour,
Know these nurse but gallant men !
Charge ye Scottish braves in triumph, &c.
Perthshire, and that the founder of the Locheill branch was Donald Dubh MacAllan,
the sixth chief according to the Memoirs. "It ought, however, to be observed,"
he continues, " that although the author evidently labours under the impression that
the first were of the Locheill branch, yet he merely asserts that they were the princi-
pal men of the name of Cameron of whom he could find any mention in History."
This is a point which, at least for the present, we must leave where we found it. John
Cameron is mentioned in a document, dated loth of March 1233, printed by Mr
Charles Eraser-Mackintosh, p. 24 of his Invemessiana, and, at p. 44 of the same
work, Robert de Chambroun de Balgligernaucht (? Baligarny) is mentioned in a docu-
ment, dated the 1 6th of December 1292, by which the King grants him a pension of
50 merks payable by the burgesses of Inverness.
* The Highland Brigade, at the decisive battle of Tel-el-Kebir, witrTpipes play-
ing and a wild ringing cheer, rushed in gallant style through the enemy's fire and car-
ried the trenches at the point of the bayonet. They had 50 killed and 170 wounded !
Apart from the Highlanders, all the rest of the army had only 13 killed and 165
wounded. Scotland may well be proud of her sons, who still retain the bold martial
spirit and dashing valour which distinguished them in bygone times.
THE INVERARAY PROCLAMATION. 11
Hearts more valiant, true, and loyal,
Never'trod a battle-field ;
Far amid the wild war-billows
Die they may but never yield !
Swiftly as the dark hill-torrent
Dashes to the vale below
So the avalanche of tartan
Rushes on to meet the foe !
Charge ye Scottish braves in triumph, &c.
To the pibroch, proudly sounding,
On they bound with hardy pride ;
In the van the claymore flashes,
Foemen fall on every side.
Naught can stay old Scotland's heroes,
Frowning forts, nor belching guns !
On Fame's brilliant scroll, in splendour,
Shine the brave deeds of her sons !
Charge ye Scottish braves in triumph !
Burst the proud oppressor's chains !
Like your own immortal Wallace,
Noble blood rolls_through your veins !
Edinburgh. ALEXANDER LOGAN.
THE INVERARAY PROCLAMATION.— The disciples of Isaac Walton, who
find it a difficult task to discover an open water, will relish the proclamation given in
the Dunoon book as having been made at the Market Cross of Inveraray in the last
century : —
Ta-hoy ! Te t'ither ahoy ! Ta-hoy
Three times ! ! ! an' Ta-hoy— Whisht ! ! !
By command of his Majesty, King George
an' her Grace te Duke o' Argyll :
If any body is found fishing aboon te loch,
or below te loch, afore te loch, or ahint te loch,
in te loch, or on te loch, aroun' te loch, or
about te loch,
She's to be persecutit wi' three persecutions :
First, she's to be burnt, syne she's to be
drownt, and then she's to be hangt — an'
if ever she comes back she's to be persecutit
Wi' a faur waur death.
God save the King an' her Grace
te Duke o' Argyll !
— Literary Notes in the Daily Mail.
, z THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
ROGART EDUCATIONAL ASSOCIATION AND
MR JOHN MACKAY, C.E., HEREFORD.
PROFESSOR BLACKIE, in one of his recent " Highland Sketches "
in the Scotsman, writes :— The Educational Association of
Rogart of whose seventh anniversary, held under the presi-
dency of her Grace the Duchess of Sutherland, a short notice
appeared in your columns, and at which I had the good fortune
to be present — is, I believe, a unique phenomenon in Highland
parishes, to the importance of which it seems proper to direct the
attention of the public. Rogart is a parish of considerable extent
— about 10 miles by 6 — and as such demanding, for the con-
venience of children of unripe ages in a raw climate, under the
new regulations, four separate schools. Mr John Mackay, of
Hereford, an engineer of well-known efficiency in Wales, being a
native, and son of a crofter in this parish, and, like all true High-
landers, possessed by the noble passion of doing good to his
fellow-countrymen, conceived the idea of uniting these schools in
a general association for the purposes of common action. This
scheme, under his wise direction and the co-operation of the
clergy and other influential persons in the district, leaped at a
stride into distinct reality, and has already become not the least
potent factor in the moral machinery of the district. Its action
is threefold — (i) It unites all the four schools of the parish in a
general competition for prizes, after the fashion of the Ferguson
scholarships, which are open to the students of all the Scottish
Universities, giving the most effective spur to a generous rivalry
among the competing schools, and creating, at the same time, a
feeling of unity, and nursing the habit of common action, in the
highest degree beneficial to the best interests of the parish ; (2)
It supplies a fund large enough to equip any one of the best
scholars of the parish for a University career, where, after a good
start, he may be able to fight his own way up into professional
usefulness; (3) It maintains a library for parochial uses; and (4)
Has a debating society connected with it for improvement in
English composition, and the discussion of subjects of human and
1 interest. I feel quite confident, Mr Editor, that you will
agree with me in thinking that a local movement of this kind,
ROGART EDUCATIONAL ASSOCIATION. 13
however small it may bulk among the scenes that are enacted on
more prominent and more pretentious platforms, is a movement,
not only in itself of great social importance, but in the hope
which it holds forth of being the germ of educational action on a
similar principle all over the Highlands, and, it may be, over the
whole of Scotland.
Mr Mackay, to whom a grateful address was delivered by
the parishioners, has appealed, in this movement, to the great
principle of self-help — a principle which, whenever it is called
into operation, not only achieves the desired result in the prompt-
est possible way, but achieves it by rousing into full play all
those moral forces by the action of which a man becomes, in the
complete sense of the word, a man. Whatever is done for us
and not by us, however well done, can never make us strong in
the doing of it ; may only leave us dexterous tools, or well-
trained puppets, in the hands of those who have done it for us.
This is the fundamental principle of all true democracy ; the one
root out of which all individual strength and all social dignity
proceeds. Some things, no doubt, must be done externally by
social compulsion — that is, by the State and by public law ;
otherwise, as human nature is constituted, they will either not be
done at all, or done in a very inadequate fashion. Nevertheless,
it is well that outside of all State arrangement there should be a
free field left for voluntary creation ; and one such free field Mr
Mackay has appropriated in the Rogart Educational Association.
It is an evil inherent in all centralised systems that they tend to
apply a rigid rule, in a mechanical way, to all material, however
diverse, that comes within the sphere of their operation ; while
the local element, which, as the most characteristic, is not
seldom the most valuable element in all true culture, under the
panoramic view of remote redtapists, becomes unduly subordin-
ated or altogether invisible. An example of this necessary
peculiarity of centralised optics we find in the systematic omission
of the native lauguage and the native music, in the favoured
subjects of the Educational Code for the Highlands; though
nothing is more certain, on the one hand, that the comparative
study of Gaelic and English is the best possible intellectual
exercise for young Celts, just as the comparative study of Latin
and English is for the young Lowlander ; and, on the other hand,
I4 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
that, for the cultivation of the emotions and the moral nature, the
national songs and the national music are among the most potent
instruments that Nature has put into the hands of the educator.
To counteract this onesidedness, Mr Mackay, with the large views
of a patriot, and the warm heart of a man, has instituted in
Rogart a Gaelic class for young persons and adults, in connection
with the Association, giving prizes, as, indeed, he does largely on
all occasions, principally out of his own pocket. I have only to
add that this Association, in its special action for the encourage-
ment of the mother tongue, points out to Highlanders, with a
significant index, the only way by which they can hope to have
anything worthy of the name of a Highland education in High-
land schools. The men who measure out educational red tape in
London or Oxford do not seem to have the most remote notion that
good Highland education consists in drawing out (educo) the best
elements that God and Nature have put into the Highland breast ;
their method is to suppose that Highland souls are empty vessels,
into which knowledge is to be poured in the quality, and accord-
ing to the quantity, that the Metropolitan man, in the plenitude
of his codifying and inspectorial wisdom, may weigh out ; a
method which will have the infallible result of annihilating the
noble race called Highlanders altogether, and turning them all
out as the accomplished monkeys and flunkeys and dancing
bears of omnipotent John Bull. I crave, in conclusion, a place
for a few complimentary lines
TO JOHN MACKAY, ESQ., OF HEREFORD, THE FOUNDER OF THE ROGART SCHOOL
ASSOCIATION, SUTHERLAND.
Who love the Highlands ? not with murtherous guns,
Who scour the moor, and chase the flying deer ;
Who lure the speckled troutling from the mere,
And hook the strong-nosed salmon, where he runs
Cleaving the adverse flood. These love their sport ;
But thou, Mackay, dost love the stout-thewed men,
Whose sweatful toil redeemed the stony glen,
And filled wide Europe with the proud report
Of their high-daring deeds ; and thou didst stir
In fresh young hearts brave memory of their sires ;
And mothers hailed in thee God's minister,
To fan the slumbering flame of patriot fires.
Who loveth thus loves well, and, nobly wise,
Weds earth to heaven with worth that never dies.
JOHN STUART BLACKIE.
ROGART EDUCATIONAL ASSOCIATION. 15
At the meeting of the Association, referred to by Professor
Blackie, Mr Mackay was presented with the address from the
people of Rogart, his native village, " as a token at once of their
high admiration of his character and career, and of their very
grateful appreciation of his intelligent, liberal, and unwearied
endeavours to advance the social and intellectual welfare of the
inhabitants of that, his native, parish." After giving him full
praises for founding the Rogart Association, the Address pro-
ceeded.—
It is creditable to you as well as encouraging and pleasing to us to find this
Society already a power for good in the parish, chief among its many fruits being a
literary institute, with its debating society, library, and reading-room, as also a sing-
ing class. Its excellent results are further seen in the creditable position attained in
grammar schools and Universities by some of those aided by this Association. While,
no doubt, it is in this parish amongst ourselves that your name and the history of your
highly creditable and successful career are and will be treasured with a special pride
and affection, it is well known that your fame as a true Highlander and a benefactor
of your countrymen is not confined to Rogart, not even to the Highlands. Wherever
Highlanders are to be found, in the distant colonies of Australia and New Zealand,
among the brave, industrious Gaelic-speaking settlers of Canada, by the Celts that
occupy positions of trust and influence on the sunny fields of India, and, nearer home,
by the Celtic population of the large towns and cities, and of the far-off hamlets of the
Outer Hebrides, the name of John Mackay, of Swansea, the designation by which
you are better known, is respected and cherished with a fond regard as an accom-
plished Highlander — a true friend of the people and of the ancient Gaelic tongue, an
intelligent student of Highland traditions, and a liberal, thoughtful, promoter of the
best interests of his Highland countrymen, as tillers of the soil, and in all other
spheres of life.
Mr Mackay eloquently replied in feeling and patriotic lan-
guage, after which Professor Blackie delivered, as usual, a telling
speech. Speaking of the Duchess of Sutherland, who was present,
and listened to his eloquent and well-deserved encomiums, he
said. —
I am happy to know that she is the right kind of duchess — (Cheers) — she is
a duchess that loves her people. (Loud cheers.) That I know; and any one who
walks up through Strathpeffer can see that. You will see there white cottages on the
hill sides, tenanted by the native population — the place teeming with a thriving High-
land peasantry. (Applause.) You will not there see one big house occupied by an
Elliot or a Paterson, or some outlandish name of that sort. (Great laughter.) The
Highland peasants are still there like the heather upon the hills, or the old Caledonian
pines, remaining where they should be. (Cheers.) This is the effect of good manage-
ment ; and when her Grace looks upon these people we know her sentiments. "These,"
she says, " were my father's tenants, and so far as I can, consistent with good man-
,6 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE,
agement, they shall be mine, (Cheers.) They shall not leave that property unless it
be for their better, and mine also." (Applause.) I have been accused of being a
sonneteer— (Laughter)— and a sentimentalist, but I would be a brute and a craven-
hearted beast if I could walk through the Highland glens which I have seen utterly
desolate— (Applause)— where we know that thirty or forty years ago there was a happy
and prosperous population— the nursery of our best labourers, of our best soldiers—
(Cheers)— but instead of whom we now find ten hundred thousand sheep and one big
south country farmer— (Laughter and applause)— I say that with that sight before me
I weep when I go there. (Applause.) But our duchess loves her people. She knows
her position and her relation to them— she knows that that relationship is higher than
mere rent -gathering — she is not like your miserable shopkeeper and ordinary rent-
collectors. God forbid ! True nobility has higher aims and higher duties than these
—(Applause)— it loves, it honours, it reveres the people. (Applause.) If our aristoc-
racy look upon the people on merely mercantile principles they will fall into contempt,
and deservedly so. (Applause.) Now, I am afraid of becoming eloquent — (Laughter)
but I have been called on to speak— the thought rises, and you must take it as it
comes. I am sure there is nothing higher or nobler than the position of the owner of
a great landed property, if that person looks upon it as an onerous position, and feels
called upon to improve the land and advance the well-being of the people — (Applause)
—I know nothing like it. There is no profession superior to that of elevating the
position of the people — raising them in the physical, intellectual, and moral scale.
(Applause.) What can be better than that? Some proprietors send some fellows
down to gather as much money as possible out of the people, and after that let them
emigrate or starve. Now that is a wretched policy — (Applause) — and a policy with
which I know her Grace has no sympathy, for we see in her one of the highest in the
land doing the noblest and best acts to her people — preserving them in the country of
her fathers and their fathers, encouraging them to improve their possessions and gene-
rally promoting their interests. (Loud applause.)
The reader should know that her Grace has large properties of
her own in the counties of Ross and Cromarty, and it was to
these and not to Sutherland that the Professor referred. Speak-
ing of the objects of the Association, the Professor continued-
Love is the regular bond of society, which binds class and class, and if anybody
says that cash payment is the only and leading principle, to him I say— Maranatha—
(Laughter)— a curse upon you ! That man is not a Christian. He is not animated
with the spirit of the old landlords— the love which was the old bond in the time of
the clans, which some of you with big pockets and small hearts— (Laughter) -call
times of barbarism and thieving— (Laughter)— I wish to take the liberty which all
>peechmakers, and sometimes many preachers, take of departing from the subject—
Daughter)— in saying a single word to express my view of the aims of such an Asso-
ion as this. This is one of the things which in these literary days I enjoy. It
means two things. In the first place, it means self-dependence, and in the second
(Applause.) That is the root of all true national greatness ; and it follows
it without it your men become mere puppets— or bonny, well-behaved girls. (Great
ter.) You will get that sort of thing in Austria and under the Jesuits, but in
have a little manhood the people must be taught to do things for themselves,
I the sort of education which they want and which they require. The
THE GAELIC CENSUS. 17
whole of Scotland is deficient in the matter of secondary education — and why ? Be-
cause the people up in London don't care a copper for you — they think that your sal-
vation must come from London — (Great laughter) — and that your chief function is to
let John Bull ride over your necks — to bring out all the Celtic soul that is in you.
But my advice to you is to cultivate all your traditions, especially all your Gaelic
songs and all your Gaelic legends, and learn the morals which they convey. I do not
want to prop up the Gaelic by artificial- means, but while it is a living tongue, use it,
and benefit by it — (Applause) — and because your aged mother is sixty years, and you
a strapping young dame, don't kick her into the grave— let her tell her story ; for if
you despise your mother, others will naturally and deservedly despise you. (Ap-
plause.)
Nae treasures or pleasures
Could mak' us happy lang ;
The heart's aye the part aye
That mak's us richt or wrang.
During the proceedings the Rev. Mr Mackay intimated that
hitherto four girls and five boys had been assisted by the Associ-
ation at Grammar and Normal Schools. The very first boy the
Association took in hand — one who had lost both his parents at
an early age — went to the Grammar School at Aberdeen. In
his first year there he got a bursary of £iS for two years. After
attending the Grammar School for two years he entered the
University, where he carried off a bursary of £20 for four years.
Last year this same boy obtained another bursary of the value of
£10.
THE GAELIC CENSUS,
IN the month of March last year, when the census schedules were
issued, bearing the puzzling instruction to enumerators and house-
holders about " habitual " speakers of Gaelic, the worthlessness,
for any practical purposes, of such a census as was there re-
quired was pointed out, and our countrymen were warned that
use would be made of this incomplete and altogether fallacious
enumeration to institute comparisons as to the relative strength
of the English and Gaelic speaking districts of our country, a
comparison which would inevitably tell to the disadvantage of
the Gaelic speaking people, and which, to those who did not
know, or did not choose to pay attention to the circumstances
D
Ig THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
of the enumeration, would supply a convenient ground for further
official ignoring of the Highland people and their language.
That such caution was not uncalled for is now evident from
the returns by the Registrar-General of the completed census.
In his report, without the slightest hint as to the notoriously in-
correct and incomplete character of the Gaelic statistics, he goes
on to make his calculations of the numerical strength of the
Gaelic population. In the first place he calls the Gaelic return
an attempt to give "an accurate account of the numbers of the
population who in each locality are said to be 'Gaelic-speaking,'
or to be in the habit of making colloquial use of the Gaelic lan-
guage." Let our readers mark, " an accurate account," or, as he
further on says, the percentage of Gaelic speakers "dearly
shown." He then goes on to state that the percentage of Gaelic
speakers in the various districts stands thus :— The North-Western
Division, 71-08 per cent, of the population; the West, Midland,
and Northern Divisions contain 18-49 and 16*99 P^ cent, re-
spectively. The counties show as follows: — Sutherland, 75-31
per cent; Ross and Cromarty, 71-40; Inverness, 70-80; and
Argyle, 6o'8i. In the county of Lanark, including the city of
Glasgow, there are 10,513 persons returned as "Gaelic speakers,"
this number being only ri6 per cent, of the population of that
county. It is probable that the percentages quoted above may
be fairly accurate so far as they apply to Highland districts and
counties, and may be accepted as furnishing an approximation to
the numbers of persons colloquially speaking the Gaelic language.
But the natural inference that the remaining percentages represent
the proportion of English speakers we protest against, because
they embrace many of the infants and young children of ex-
clusively Gaelic-speaking people (who will in all probability grow
up Gaelic speakers) as well as the "unspeakable" children of
English speaking parents. Manifestly, therefore, the comparison
is quite unfair.
It is simply ridiculous to speak of the return for Lanarkshire
as an "accurate" account of the number of Gaelic speakers.
Glasgow shows only some 8500. Why, any one who sees the
Gaelic congregations of that city dismissing on a Sunday fore-
noon may find in Hope Street alone over 3000 Gaelic speakers
ssuing from two churches. We venture to say that if the number
PROFESSOR BLACKIE AND LAND LAWS. 19
of Gaelic speakers returned for Glasgow were multiplied by seven
it would be much nearer an accurate return.
It may be remarked by some that the census only contem-
plated enumerating those who were habitual speakers of Gaelic,
and that possibly the returns for Glasgow may be nearly correct.
But granting that, what is the value of it? or what dependence
can be put on a census that in Lewis returns the whole popula-
tion of certain parishes, down to the infants at the breast, as speak-
ing Gaelic, while in other places the enumerators carefully ex-
cluded all who were able to converse in Gaelic if they did not do
so habitually, as was evidentally done in Glasgow ? It is a noto-
rious fact that many of the enumerators deliberately ignored their
instructions, and made no enquiries about the filling up of the
Gaelic column. Even in the town of Inverness we personally know
of cases where whole families — some numbering nine persons —
scarcely any member of whom can express the commonest idea
intelligently in English — who are in every sense Gaelic-speaking
people only — were returned by the enumerators' as English-
speaking, while they never utter a word of English unless they
are obliged to do so to make themselves understood. This sort of
thing holds equally true of other places North and South.
On the whole, we have no hesitation in pronouncing the re-
turn of so-called Gaelic speakers as very misleading, indeed
almost worthless, and would caution Highlanders against any
statistical uses that may be made of it.
PROFESSOR BLACKIE AND THE LAND LAWS. — Professor Blackic
writes as follows to the Scotsman: — "Sir, — I observe a paragraph in your paper of
the 3rd inst., in which my name is mentioned in connection with 'a land agitation in
the Highlands,' forthwith to be inaugurated. I write this to state that I gave no
authority to any person to make such a use of my name. With regard to our Land
Laws generally, not only in the Highlands, but all over the country, long study and
observation have convinced me that they are unjust and impolitic in an extreme de-
gree ; and it may be that, from certain local causes, they are made to act more harshly
and more perniciously in the Highlands than in the low country. So soon as any
fundamental changes in these laws shall be put into a practical shape by influential
politicians and men of business, the leaders in such a movement may calculate on my
warm sympathy and active co-operation, so far as it may be worth anything. But I
am a student by profession, and not an agitator, and meddle with questions of legal
and social reform only in a subsidiary and secondary way."
20 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
THE HIGHLAND BRIGADE AND THE HIGHLAND
CROFTERS.
A VALUED correspondent, referring to a prospective Measure of
Relief to the Highland Crofters, writes to us as follows : — I re-
joice to think that a measure of relief of this nature is now
within easy reach. The gallant charge of the Highland Brigade
at Tel-el-Kebir has again placed the Empire under obligations to
this contingent of the army, and as the time will soon be at hand
for rewarding deserving general officers, the claims of the men
could not be acknowledged by the country in a more befitting
manner than by conferring freedom and security upon the stock
from which they are drawn, so that the Highlands may still be
preserved as a nursery for brave men and bonnie lasses.
The most effective demonstration that can be made is to get
up a petition of crofters to Parliament setting forth their griev-
ances, and praying to be made peasant proprietors with enlarged
holdings where the land admits of it. A roll should be sent to
every parish, and ministers of both Churches might be enlisted in
favour of the step, and be useful in getting it signed. This being
done, a deputation of crofters, of about 100 men, or say, a repre-
sentative man from every parish, should be sent to London
dressed in their usual best garb and Kilmarnock bonnets, with a
piper at their head, to deliver their petition to Mr Bright or some
English member of weight and talent for presentation. It would
be a respectful, a manly, a constitutional, and altogether a unique
and telling demonstration. Our difficulty is to command the
attention of Englishmen. Our existence must be made known
to them, and we ought to show them that we are in earnest.
The money can be easily found. I think £1000 ought to
cover all the expenses. I shall be glad to contribute a ten pound
note myself, although I am not wealthy, but I have wealthy
friends upon whose liberality I may count.
The following table, from the Inverness Courier, gives point
to our correspondent's suggestion :
THE HIGHLANDERS AT TEL-EL-KEBiR.—An examination
list of the killed and wounded at Tel-el-Kebir, as finally
NAMES OF DOUGLAS AND SKENE. 21
made up by Sir Garnet Wolscley, brings out the melancholy
fact that the Highland regiments suffered more than all the
other regiments under Wolseley's command put together. The
number of regiments returned as having been engaged in the
action is 17. Of these five are Highland regiments. The total
number of casualties of all ranks is 459. The casualties among
the Highlanders alone number 245, thus leaving only 214 to be
divided among the other twelve regiments. Nothing tells more
eloquently of the heroic part the Highland regiments took in this
battle. We tabulate their losses as follows : —
Officers Officers Other Ranks Other Ranks
Killed. Wounded. Killed. Wounded. Missing.
Black Watch 2 6 7 37 4
Gordon Highlanders i i 5 29 4
Cameron Highlanders 3 13 45
Highland Light Infantry... 3 5 14 52 11
Seaforth Highlanders ... i 3
Total 6 15 40 166 19
The other twelve Regiments 3 12 8 187 3
Grand total. 9 27 48 353 22
In other words, five Highland Regiments lost six officers killed,
and the other twelve regiments together lost only three officers
killed. The Highland Regiments lost forty non-commissioned
officers and men killed, and all the others put together lost only
eight non-commissioned officers and men killed.
ORIGIN OF THE NAMES DOUGLAS AND SKENE.
IN the last issue of the Celtic Magazine there appeared an
account of the origin of the name Gordon from the pen of M.
A. Rose, and I thought it would not be amiss to present you this
month with a legendary version of the origin of the names
Douglas and Skene. The first runs thus : —
Towards the end of the nth century, when Scotland was
the scene of much bloodshed, there lived in England a youth of
about twenty-two years of age, who, although at that time a
hostage at the English Court, was destined to become King of
Scotland. He was a natural son of Malcolm Canmorc, but his
22
THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
father having been killed at Alnwick, and leaving no children old
enough to succeed him except Duncan, who, as I have said, was
detained as a hostage in England, the throne had been seized by
a brother of the late King, named Donald Bane.
At length, Duncan obtained his freedom, and the first use he
made of it was to collect an army and advance to dethrone his
uncle. Donald immediately marched to meet him, and in a short
time the rival armies were facing each other upon a level plain,
which gave neither party any advantage over the other. Donald's
army, however, far outnumbered that of his nephew, but, nothing
daunted, Duncan ordered his men to advance, and with wild
shouts, they threw themselves upon the ranks of the enemy. At
first, the foe gave way, but immediately after he rallied, and was
bearing Duncan and his brave little army back, when a horseman
appeared upon the scene who very quickly changed the aspect of
affairs. The new comer was of immense stature, and was
mounted upon a magnificent black horse. Both horse and man
were defended by massive armour of a dark grey colour, and the
rider carried a large two-handed sword, a lance, and a mace,
which consisted of a short, stout staff, to one end of which was
attached a short chain terminated by a ball of iron studded with
sharp spikes.
Shouting to the remnant of Duncan's army to follow him,
he rushed upon the enemy, making fearful havoc with the dread-
ful mace. Thus encouraged by his brave demeanour, he was
followed by most of the survivors of Duncan's army, shouting
11 Dubh-glas, Dubh-glas, follow the Dubh-glas ;" that is, " Dark-
grey, Dark-grey, follow the Dark-grey." So unexpected was
this sudden attack, and so astounded were the enemy at the
extraordinary prowess of the dark-grey horseman, that they broke
and fled, and left Duncan victorious in possession of the field.
As soon as the battle was over, Duncan called the unknown
•rseman to him, and inquired his name and lineage, that he
be rewarded for his timely aid. Bowing low, the stranger
Sire, my name is James Macduff, at your Majesty's
•vice, and I am a son of Macduff, Thane of Fife. Hearing of
• advance against Donald Bane, I hastened to offer you my
>or aid, and by dint of hard riding, I managed to arrive at a
most seasonable crisis." Duncan replied, '• I am about to reward
NAMES OF DOUGLAS AND SKENE. 23
your services by conferring upon you the honour of knighthood,
but before I do so, are you willing to exchange your name of
Macduff for that of Dubh-glas, which will be a lasting memorial
of the occasion which gave rise to it ?" The young gentleman
signified his willingness to do as Duncan had suggested, and
bidding him kneel, the new king touched him lightly on the
shoulder with the flat of his sword, saying, " Arise, Sir James
Dubh-glas, and accept our best thanks for your brave conduct."
In due course the name, of Dubh-glas drifted into Douglas,
and the son of the Thane of Fife became the progenitor of the
most powerful family in all Scotland.
Regarding the name of Skene the legend is as follows : —
During the reign of James V. a great hunting expedition was
organised by the King, which was to consist of some two or three
hundred noblemen and gentlemen connected with the Court.
The scene of the hunt was to be Stocket Forest, in Athol, then
the haunt of wolves, foxes, stags, badgers, hares, rabbits, and
other game.
On a fine day in September, the royal party set out for the
forest, enlivening the journey with jests and snatches of song.
At length the hunting-ground was reached; several hundred
beaters were employed to beat the undergrowth and bushes with
long poles, and, soon, a magnificent stag royal was started. The
king's deer-hounds were let loose, and in a moment the dark,
gloomy forest was echoing the deep-toned bay of the hounds, and
the clear "Tally-ho" and "Yoicks" of the merry huntsmen. All
were in their element, except the unfortunate object of their
pursuit, for now the pace at which the noble animal was going
began to tell upon his form, and the lolling tongue, wild eye, and
unsteady, rocking gait of the poor fellow made it clear to all that
he must soon give in. At last, he was driven into a grassy dell,
at the bottom of which ran a tiny rivulet of purest water. The
hounds were at his heels, but stooping his graceful head, and
taking one cool draught, he stood at bay. The foremost hound
was received upon his deadly horns, and tossed, gashed and
bleeding, high in air. The second and third met a like fate, but
then, collecting their energies for a final rush, the whole pack
simultaneously sprung upon him, and in a few moments, the keen
blade of the huntsman finished what the hounds had begun.
24 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
Placing the body of the stag upon a pack-horse, the cavalcade
proceeded, and ere long a gigantic wolf was roused from his lair.
Again the hounds gave tongue, and the wolf was chased for many
a mile, until furious, he turned savagely upon his howling pursuers.
The dogs held back, terrified at his ferocious aspect, but at length
one of them mustered up sufficient courage, and sprung at the
wolfs throat. Shaking off the hound with a fierce snarl, the
brute leaped upon the king's horse, which was foremost, and had
it not been for the thick leather hunting-boots which his Majesty
wore, and which resisted the attacks of the wolfs teeth, the King
would have been seriously wounded. He dealt the animal several
blows with his heavy hunting whip, but it would not loose its
hold until a gentleman of the party, one of the family of Strowan,
drew a short " Sgian " or dirk, which he wore, and attacked the
ferocious animal in the rear. Releasing the horse, the wolf
sprung upon this gentleman, when there ensued a terrible
struggle. The wolf seized him by the right arm, but with the
left our hero made repeated stabs at the animal's side. The
combatants fell to the ground, rolling over and over, but at last
the gentleman arose, fearfully torn, but victorious, and pointing
to the gasping wolf, he said, presenting his bloody knife to the
King, "Your Majesty, will you be pleased to give the coup de
grace" The King took the reeking dirk and cut the animal's
throat, and then, placing the weapon carefully in his bosom, he
addressed his preserver, " I have to thank you for my life, brave
Sir, and I beg that you will allow me to keep the Sgian as a
memorial of your courage. Meanwhile, I request you to change
your name of Robertson for that of Sgian or Skene as a slight
reward for your act, and if ever you wish any favour from me,
you have only to refer to the weapon, which I have kept, and I
promise, on the word of a Stuart and a King, that it shall be
granted you." H.
DONALD MACLEOD'S "GLOOMY MEMORIES OF SUTHERLAND," edited by the
Editor of the Celtic Magazine, with, in addition, a complete history of Evictions in
the Highlands from the Battle of Culloden to the present time, is in the press, and
be published about Christmas or the New- Year by A. & W. Mackenzie, Publishers,
iverness. It will form a neatly printed volume of from 300 to 350 pp., uniform with
Macgregor's « Life of Flora Macdonald," and "The Prophecies of the Brahan Seer."
•Subscribers, 4s.; by post, 4s. 4d. Those wishing to secure copies should
send in their names without delay.
SHERIFF MACKINTOSH AND THE RECENT
ROGART EVICTION TRIALS.
THE Glasgow correspondent of the Oban Times of the 7th of
October, referring to this trial, says : — " The crofter, Andrew
Mackenzie, who was reinstated by his neighbours recently, was
tried before the Sheriff at Dornoch on Saturday, and received
the heavy sentence of one month's imprisonment, without the
option of a fine. Professor Blackie recently referred to this case
in the following manner : —
Rogart, however minutely its social condition has been described in that solid
and instructive little work, "The Chronicles of Stratheden," had it not been for a
recent revolt of certain recalcitrant crofters against certain public officers engaged in
the disagreeable duty that occasionally falls to them, might have been to this day a
name as unknown to most Scottish readers as the name of any parish in Iceland. In-
to the merits of this unfortunate encounter between legal claims and human feelings I
have no desire to enter ; my belief is, that in all such cases a little good sense and
good feeling on the side of the stronger party will go much farther to prevent undesir-
able collisions between the different classes of society than all the law and all the
political economy in the libraries.
People who know the case thoroughly wonder why the case was
tried before the Sheriff-Principal, and not before the Sheriff-Sub-
stitute, who was conversant with the local circumstances. In a
Licensing Court no one having a connection with the "trade" is
allowed to sit on the bench ; but here we find Sheriff Mackintosh,
himself a laird, and, in his capacity of advocate in Edinburgh,
senior counsel in the case of Lord Macdonald against the crofters
of Ben-Lee, sitting to judge a case which arose out of an attempt
to evict Mackenzie from his croft, which he has improved to the
extent of £200. In passing sentence, the Sheriff said "it was at
the present time especially necessary that the authority of the
law should be supported and vindicated;" and so we have his
sentence — thirty days' imprisonment, and a fine denied. One can
understand how difficult it is for a person to administer law
which concerns himself. If procurator-fiscals should not be
allowed to act as factors, neither should sheriffs be allowed to
act as advocates, when their doing so involves them in a peculiar
manner. It is probable that this may be brought before the
notice of Parliament by the Federation of Celtic Societies."
26 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
The same authority in the Times of I4th of October states
that Sheriff Mackintosh was the guest of the Duke of Sutherland
in Dunrobin at the time of the trial. We trust this will immedi-
ately receive official contradiction; for, while we are quite satisfied
that these social courtesies would not in the least affect the mind
of the learned Sheriff, we are equally decided that, in present
circumstances, every precaution should be taken to keep our
judges above suspicion.
MY BONNIE ROWAN TREE.*
Thrice welcome, sweet green spray,
Cull'd from my Rowan Tree,
By lov'd ones far away,
In bonnie Amulree.
In boyhood's days thy root
Was planted by my hand,
Just ere I left my dear,
My Scottish fatherland !
Thou but a sapling then,
Though now a shelt'ring tree,
While warblers in thy boughs
Sing sweetest melodic.
Oh! handsome Rowan Tree!
I'm growing old and gray;
But thou art fresh and green,
Remote from all decay.
One boon for which I pray —
A home in Amulree!
Where friends of yore I'd meet
Beneath thee, Rowan Tree!
The Fraochie wimpling by,
In cadence soft and slow —
Craig Thullich tow'ring high,
The fragrant woods below.
The old Kirk on the knowe,
The graveyard mossy green ;
Thy bosky birks, Lubchuil !
Thy streamlet's silv'ry sheen.
With warm Breadalbane hearts,
'Mong those romantic braes,
I happily could spend
The gloaming of my days.
The mem'ries of langsyne—
Bright days of gladsome glee-
NX e fondly could revive
" Beneath thee, Rowan Tree!
D. MACGREGOR CRERAR.
the w
ORIGIN OF THE NAME GORDON.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
SIR, — The traditional origin of the name of Gordon, mentioned by Charles
Fraser- Mackintosh, M.P., F.S.A., Scot., in his Antiquarian Notes, and referred to
by M. A. Rooe in last Celtic Magazine, is one of those punning etymologies that are
so common, like Tranent from "Try foment," Rutherford from "Rue their ford,"
. Selkirk from " Sell the Kirk," Melrose from " a Mallet and a Rose," &c., &c. Gor-
don, in Berwickshire, from which the family derives, has evidently got its name from
its situation -Goirtin, in Gaelic, "a little field of corn;" standing, as the village
does, on what may be called a fertile oasis, in the midst of barren moors and dismal
peat mosses. Burke, in his " Peerage and Baronage," says of the Gordons : — "Al-
though there are numerous histories of this illustrious family extant, yet the historians
do not coincide as to its origin and first settlement in Great Britain. Some bring the
Gordons from Greece to Gaul, and thence into Scotland, at least a thousand years ago ;
while others convey them from Spain, Flanders, &c. The more probable conjecture,
however, is that some of the Gordons came into England with William, Duke of
Normandy, and into Scotland with King Malcolm Canmore." He goes on to men-
tion the boar tradition, which may be quite true, but, nevertheless, certainly did not
give rise to the family name, though it may have given occasion to its bearers assuming
three boars' heads for their armorial bearing. In the different lists of the conquerors
of England, published by Bromton, Leland, and Duchesne, and quoted by Thierry,
we find the names of Gurdon, Gerdoun, Verdon, Verdoun, and Werdoun ; but there
is nothing except the resemblance in sound to connect them with the Gordons of that
Ilk, the ancestors of the Dukes of Gordon, Earls and Marquises of Huntly, Earls of
Aboyne, Earls of Aberdeen, &c. These Gordons are, indeed, by paternal descent, a
branch of the Setons, who, again, took their name from a place in Haddingtonshire, so
called " by reason that the town thereof is situate hard upon the sea." Their ancestor
on the mother's side, an Anglo-Norman, whose proper name is unknown, had the ter-
ritory of Gordon granted to him, in the reign either of Malcolm Canmore or of David
I., and assumed from it the surname of Gordon. One of his descendants, probably a
grandson, named Bertrand de Gurdon, wounded to death King Richard I. of Eng-
land, while that lion-hearted monarch was engaged in reducing the Castle of Chaluz,
in Aquetaine, in the year 1199 ; and though he was given his liberty by the generous
dying King, with a hundred shillings to take him home to Scotland, he was detained,
flayed alive, and then hanged, by order of Marchadee, the leader of the Brabantine
mercenaries serving in Richard's army. Richard de Gordon gave lands to the Abbey
of Kelso in the year 1267. Thomas, his son, was also a benefactor to that religious
house ; and his grandson, likewise Thomas, " taking upon him the sign of the Cross,
according to the devotion of those times," left his inheritance to his daughter Alicia,
who married her kinsman Adam Gordon, to whom she bore a son and heir, Sir Adam
Gordon, Knight, who, "being a zealous assertor of the independency and freedom of
his native country, stood in such high favour with King Robert Bruce, that the said
28 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
King, in consideration of his good services, gave him the Lordship of Strathbolgy, in
Aberdeenshire," to which he changed his residence, in order to overawe and quell the
Cumyns. He was killed at the battle of Haledon Hill in 1333. His son and heir,
Sir Alexander, lost his life at the battle of Durham in 1346, as his great-grandson, Sir
John, did at the battle of Homildon in 1401. This Sir John left issue by Elizabeth
his wife, daughter to the Lord Keith, an only daughter of her name, who was her heir ;
and she, in the year 1408, marrying Sir Alexander Seton, second son to Sir William
Seton of that Ilk, Robert, Duke of Albany, Regent of Scotland, granted this gentle-
man a charter, dated 2Oth July, in the same year, of "the lands of the baronies of
Gordoun and Huntly, Fogow, Fawnys, and Mellerstaines, in Berwickshire, Strath-
bolgy and Beldygordoun in Aberdeenshire ;" and he was thenceforth styled Alex-
ander de Seton, Dominus de Gordon. His son, Sir Alexander, resumed the surname
of Gordon, and placed the arms of that name in the first quarter of his heraldic shield,
where they have ever since been borne. It would be a waste of room to pursue the
story further; but I may conclude with the following quotation from Chambers's
"Gazetteer of Scotland" : — "It is understood that when this great historical family
removed to the North, where for three or four centuries they have possessed more terri-
torial influence than any other, they carried along with them, and conferred the desig-
nation of Huntly upon a place in their new domains, from which they afterwards took
the title of lord, earl, and marquis in succession ; and on being raised to a dukedom
in the year 1684, the parish of Gordon was resorted to for a new title [extinct in
1836], though for centuries they had had no seignorial connection with it."
Bishopwearmouth, Sunderland. WILLIAM BROCKIE.
THE IRISH "COMHLUCHD CLAN NA'N GAOIDHIL."— This Society
was established in Belfast on the i;th March of the present year to promote the
revival of the ancient language of the country, and to encourage the study of Irish
history, music, and antiquities. It owes its origin to the patriotic zeal of a number of
gentlemen desirous of emulating their countrymen in Dublin and elsewhere, who were
making laudable efforts towards the resuscitation of the Gaelic tongue, which was
fast dying out in several districts of the country, where until of late days it was
universally spoken. The Society already numbers some 150 members, men of every
shade of religious and political opinions, working harmoniously together for the com-
mon objects of the Association. Classes have been formed, at which a knowledge of
telic is imparted by efficient teachers through the medium of the Primers issued by
iety for the preservation of the Irish Language, together with Dr Joyce's Irish
mar. The meetings take place during the season on each Monday and Thursday
vemng, from 8 to 9.30, a portion of the time is devoted to the rehearsal of Irish songs,
ncipally Dr M 'Hales* translation of Moore's melodies. There is a Library in con-
n with the Society, containing some 200 volumes, chiefly of Celtic Literature, a
umber of which have been liberally presented by members and friends, and will
d as funds permit. Monthly meetings are convened for the purpose of
I lectures delivered and papers read on popular Gaelic subjects. So far the
*s proved a success, and we trust it will continue to do so. If Irish Celts
>ny to use the Roman character in their works, their brother Scottish Celts
> a greater interest in their proceedings, and the task of learning to read their
alive tongue would be" much simplified to Irishmen themselves.
A RUN THROUGH CANADA AND THE STATES.
BY KENNETH MACDONALD, F.S.A., Scot.
I.
THE new Canadian province of Manitoba has been so extensively
advertised, and so frequently written about of late years, that it
has aroused the interest of thousands of the people of what our
brethren across the sea call the " old country." The stories told
of the depth and fertility of its soil, of the salubrity of its cli-
mate, of its extensive lake system, and its rivers navigable for
thousands of miles, might lead one to suppose that here an
earthly Paradise had been discovered, and that to be truly and
completely happy and prosperous one had only to sever the
ties which bound him to his home in the Old World and
make for himself a home in this particular part of the New.
And, unquestionably, strong inducements are offered to our
farmers and farm servants, and, indeed, to every one of our
people who are willing and able to work, to go to the new
province. To the average Scotsman, with his land-hunger, which
he cannot in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred gratify at home,
the offer of a FREE grant of 160 acres of good arable land, with
the option of purchasing 160 acres more on almost nominal terms,
is a strong temptation, and thousands of our countrymen, the
most energetic and industrious of their race, have already availed
themselves of the offer, and are now settled in the North-West
Many more are contemplating the same step, and many who do
not contemplate it, may, by the force of circumstances, and under
the pressure of our present insane and suicidal system of land
laws, be compelled to take it on an early day.
I have never advocated emigration, and so long as there is
even a distant prospect of our Legislature so amending our
present laws affecting land as to afford protection to the cultiv-
ator of the soil for his labour and capital, I shall not advocate it.
But meantime emigration is &fact. Thousands of our people are
leaving our shores every year seeking a home elsewhere ; and while
3o THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
emigration need not be advocated, it must be recognised. Then
it is unquestionable, that unless a speedy change takes place i
our laws, or in the manner of administering them, there will
almost of necessity be a pretty extensive depletion by emigration
of the already sparse population of the Highlands within a few
years.
These considerations, and the fact that Canada is becoming
a greater favourite with emigrants than it has hitherto been, led
me to resolve upon spending my short vacation this year (1882) in
making a visit to the Dominion.
The steamer " Manitoban," of the Allan Line, left the Clyde
early on the morning of Saturday, ipth August 1882, and, after
an uneventful voyage, landed her passengers at Point Levis,
opposite Quebec, on the morning of Wednesday, 3Oth August.
I had intended spending a day in the ancient city of Quebec,
but my experiences during a short walk through it, decided me
to move on. Quebec, if not a dead city, is a decaying one, and
the process of decay is all the more melancholy in view of the
bustling life and rapid growth of almost every other city in
Canada. The town lies on the north bank of the River St Law-
rence, and towering above it is the fortress which so long defied
the brave Wolfe in 1759, but which capitulated to the British
forces almost immediately after the victory, which, at the cost of
his own life, the gallant young General achieved on the Heights
of Abraham over his French adversaries. Quebec is the natural
outlet for the products of Canada coming down the St Lawrence,
and the natural centre of distribution of the imports by that river ;
but, from whatever cause, Quebec has lost the position among
cities which nature gave her, and has allowed Montreal, a city
which had not her natural advantages, to take the first place.
When I arrived in Quebec, the Royal Ensign was floating
over the Citadel, and, on enquiring the reason, I was told that
the Princess Louise was there. In a day or two she was to start
with her husband, the Governor, on a six months' tour to British
Columbia, by way of Toronto, Niagara, Chicago, and San Fran-
cisco. The outward portion of this journey they have since ac-
complished, and as I now write they are being feted in the Pacific
Province.
On the south bank of the St Lawrence, opposite Quebec,
THROUGH CANADA AND THE STATES. 31
stands the town of Point Levis, or Levi, which forms the terminus
at this point of the Grand Trunk Railway. Point Levis is now a
town of considerable size, but it appears from Mr Macpherson Le
Moine's "Chronicles of the St Lawrence" that up to 1850 the
eastern portion of the point used every summer to be thickly
studded with the bark wigwams of the Micmac Indians or the
North Shore Montagnais — the presumed descendants of the
warriors who, in 1775 or 1812 (without the privilege of scalping),
had helped Old England to keep out the irrepressible Yankees.
The precincts of the city of Quebec being closed to these lawless
and rum-loving worthies, they each summer paddled their canoes
to the historic point of Levi, erected bark huts, awaiting patiently
until the English Commissariat handed them their annual pre-
sents for services rendered in time of need ; blankets, clothing,
beads, trinkets for the Indian princesses ; red cloth, feathers, axes,
ammunition for the Indian princes. *
From Point Levis to Montreal the distance by the Grand
Trunk Railway is 172 miles, and a great part of the line runs
through dreary swamps. It is most unfortunate for Canada that
for many years her settlers should, immediately after landing,
have been dragged through this God-forgotten looking part of
the country, and invited practically to form their opinion of
Canada from this sample. Why, the effect on a mere visitor is
so depressing as sometimes to make him wish himself well out of
such a country. What then must its effect have been on many
a poor homeless emigrant, whose courage had been gradually
ebbing during a long sea-voyage, which was taking him day by
day further from home, and all the associations of childhood and
youth upon which memory loves to dwell ? Must not such an
unpromising aspect of the country in which he proposed to- rear
up a new home have, in many cases, crushed out his little
remaining courage and hopefulness, and so increased a thousand-
fold the difficulties in the way of his ultimate prosperity? To
make the matter worse, the route is not even a short one, the
line making a long detour southwards to Richmond, and thence
back northwards to Montreal.
Shortly before entering Montreal the Grand Trunk Railway
* " Chronicles of the St Lawrence," by ]. M» Le Moine, p. 1 90.
32 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
passes over the Victoria Bridge, one of the great bridges of the
world. The bridge is nearly two miles in length, and was com-
pleted in the year 1859 from the designs of British engineers-
Robert Stephenson and A. M. Ross. The mere bridging of a
river nearly two miles in width was not by any means the most
serious difficulty to be overcome by the engineers. At the point
where the bridge is built the current runs at the rate of seven
miles an hour, and when it is remembered that not only all the
water which passes over Niagara Falls, but also all the additional
water falling into Lake Ontario from other sources, finds it way
out by the St Lawrence to the Atlantic, it will be seen how im-
mense is the pressure which the river must exert over a bridge
built across it. When to this, however, is added the fact that in
each year the river is loaded with immense quantities of ice, which
are hurled and piled against the piers of the bridge, it will be seen
that the engineers had a task of no ordinary nature in divising a
bridge calculated to withstand the pressure of the water and ice
of the St Lawrence, and to carry across that river the railway
traffic to and from the large and rapidly growing city of Mont-
real, the commercial capital of the Dominion of Canada. How
successfully the engineers accomplished their task, and solved all
the difficulties of the problem submitted to them, is at once seen
when the bridge is examined. It consists of twenty-five tubes,
supported by twenty-four piers and two terminal abutments; or
rather there is a centre tube, and on each side six pairs of double
tubes. The centre tube is detached at both ends, and the double
tubes are bolted together and to the piers at their inner junction,
^and free at their outer ends, which rest upon rollers. Openings
'are left between each set of double tubes, and in this way ample
provision is made for the expansion and contraction caused
by the extremes of the Canadian climate. The tubes are of
wrought boiler-plate iron, built up with the most careful cal-
culation of the varying thicknesses of plate, and stiffened with
angles of iron. They are of the uniform breadth of 16 feet, and
are arranged for a single track within. Their height varies from
1 8 ft. 6 in. at the terminal tubes to 22 ft. for the centre tube. The
centre tube is 60 ft. above the summer level of the river. Besides
the openings placed for expansion, windows are placed in the
tubes to afford light. The centre span is 330 feet, all the others
THROUGH CANADA AND THE STATES. 33
are 242 feet. The dimension of the piers, which are built of lime-
stone, are at their foundations 92 feet by 22^ feet, and at the
summit 33 feet in the line of the river, and 16 feet in the line of
the bridge. They descend to a point 30 feet above summer level,
very gradually increasing in size. At this point the masonry is
extended horizontally 10 feet on the up-stream side, from whence
it descends at an angle of 45 degrees to a point 6 feet below
summer level, and thence perpendicularly to the bed of the river.
The main increase in the size of the piers is thus upon the up-
stream side, although the other sides also slightly increase in size
as they descend. The pressure of the ice upon the piers of the
bridge in spring and fall is enormous, but the horizontal gain of
10 feet in the up-stream dimensions of the piers prevents the ice
from reaching the shaft, and the sharp edges to which the piers
are brought upon that side form saddles upon which the ice cannot
rest, but must break asunder or glide aside. From this descrip-
tion of the bridge, which is an abridgement of one prepared for
the use of the members of the American Association for the Ad-
vancement of Science which met at Montreal a few days before I
visited the city, it will be seen how admirably adapted this wonder-
ful triumph of engineering skill is to fulfil all the conditions neces-
sary to its continued existence. It has to carry a heavy traffic, it is
therefore built of wrought-iron stiffened and strengthened, and
resting on piers of solid masonry of enormous strength ; it is sub-
jected to intense heat in summer and intense cold in winter, causing
expansion and contraction of the iron — provision is therefore made
by having the ends of the tubes detached and resting upon rollers
for the necessary movement without shaking the structure ; and
lastly, the pressure of water and ice is minimised by having the
upper sides of the piers made in cut-water form, so that they ofTer
the smallest possible resistance to the water, and afford no rest
for the masses of ice which the river projects against them during
a considerable portion of every year.
Night was rapidly settling down upon us as our train entered
between the parapets of Egyptian-looking masonry which form
the entrance to the long tunnel formed by the bridge. I went
upon the platform in front of the car in which I had been tra-
velling, to get if possible an idea of the appearance of the inside
of the tunnel, but I soon found I could see very little, and the
C
34 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
smoke, soot, and live embers, which came flying round my face,
soon induced me to retreat to the inside of the car and my seat.
As the train went slowly on its way through the darkness, and
minute after minute passed, and the horrid din continued, a weird
feeling crept over even experienced travellers, who were making
this journey for the first time. I was not therefore much sur-
prised to find, after a few minutes, a lady, who had crossed the
Atlantic without any exhibition of nervousness, hide her face,
first, in her hands, and then in the nearest soft place she could
find, which happened to be her husband's head or somewhere in
that neighbourhood. Her husband, a highly orthodox Presby-
terian minister returning to Canada with a second wife, bore this
exhibition of weakness with exemplary patience, and when, after
about ten minutes of darkness and the horrid clamour of rattling
iron, we emerged into the open air and comparative peace, he pro-
ceeded to soothe his wife and calm her fears with such effect that
by the time we reached Montreal she had quite got over her fright.
Arrived at Montreal, I had to part with all the friends made
on the voyage across, and notwithstanding the invitations to pay
a visit, and the half-made promises to do so, none of us met
again. I especially regretted this in the case of my good friend
Mr Robert Scott, of Mount Forest, Ontario, whom I was sincerely
desirous to see again. We occupied the same cabin crossing the
Atlantic, sat together at table, mingled our meals and our lamen-
tations during the dreadful period of sea-sickness, and, when we
had sufficiently recovered to eat sardines, we emptied my brandy-
flask together in moderate potations to keep these fish at rest.
The more I knew of Mr Scott the better I liked him, and,
although I was not able to avail myself of his invitation to pay
him a visit, I trust that was not the last opportunity I shall have
of seeing him.
By the time I had taken a bath and a supper it was too late
to see much of Montreal, but I saw a little, and on the following
day, and during three subsequent visits I paid to the city, I saw
enough of it to enable me to say what it looks like, and to
express, with the amount of reservation with which a stranger
ought always to give an opinion on such a subject, an opinion
on the position and prospects of the city. K. M'D.
(To be continued.)
35
THE SUTHERLAND EVICTIONS.
RECENTLY much interest has been shown in the history of the
" Sutherland Clearances," largely in consequence of the pamphlet
issued on the subject by the Editor of the Celtic Magazine, Pro-
fessor Blackie's " Altavona," and Alfred Russell Wallace's " Land
Nationalisation." Many of our readers have expressed a wish to
know what has appeared in this now notorious pamphlet, which,
with the quotations from it, has so much roused the ire and energy
of the present race of Sellars as to induce them to interfere with
the sale of the books above named. In response to this wish,
we give the following from the pamphlet, this portion of it being
abridged from Donald Macleod's "Gloomy Memories," now in
the press as part of a complete History of the Highland Clearances
to be published on an early day: —
The history of the Sutherland clearances would take a bulky volume. Indeed, a
large tome of 354 pages has been written in their defence by him who 'was mainly
responsible for them, entitled "An account of the Sutherland Improvements," by James
Loch, at that time Commissioner for the Marchioness of Stafford and heiress of Suther-
land. It was the first account I ever read of these so-called improvements ; and it
was quite enough to convince me, and it will be sufficient to convince any one who
knows anything of the country, that the improvement of the people, by driving them,
in the most merciless and cruel manner, from the homes of their fathers, was carried
out in a huge scale and in the most inconsiderate and heartless manner by those in
charge of the Sutherland estates. But when one reads the other side, Macleod's
" Gloomy Memories " — now very scarce — General Stewart of Garth's " Sketches '
of the Highlanders, and other contemporary publications, one wonders that such
iniquities could ever have been permitted in any Christian country, much less in
Great Britain, which has done so much for the amelioration of subject races and
the oppressed in every part of the world, while her own brave sons have been per-
secuted, oppressed, and banished without compensation by greedy and cold-blooded
proprietors, who owed their position and their lands to the ancestors of the very men
they were now treating so cruelly.
The motives of the landlords, generally led by southern factors worse than them-
selves, were, in most cases, pure self-interest, and they pursued their policy of exter-
mination with a recklessness and remorselessness unparelleled in any country where the
Gospel of peace and charity was preached — except, perhaps, unhappy Ireland. Gene-
rally, law and justice, religion and humanity, were either totally disregarded, or what
was worse — in many cases converted into and applied as instruments of oppression*
Every conceivable means, short of the musket and the sword, were used to drive the
natives from the land they loved, and to force them to exchange their crofts and homes
j6 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
-brought originally into cultivation and built by themselves, or by their forefathers—
for wretched patches among the barren rocks on the sea shore, and to depend, after
losing their cattle and their sheep, and after having their houses burnt about their
ears or razed to the ground, on the uncertain produce of the sea for subsistence, and
that in the case of a people who, in many instances, and especially in Sutherland -
shire, were totally unacquainted with a seafaring life, and quite unfitted to contend
with its perils. What was true generally of the Highlands, was in the county of
Sutherland, carried to the greatest extreme. That unfortunate county, according to an
eye-witness, was made another Moscow. The inhabitants were literally burnt out,
and every contrivance and ingenious and unrelenting cruelty was eagerly adopted for
extirpating the race. Many lives were sacrificed by famine and other hardships and
privations ; hundreds, stripped of their all, emigrated to the Canadas and other parts
of -America; great numbers, especially of the young and athletic, sought employment
in the Lowlands and in England, where, few of them being skilled workmen, they
were obliged— even farmers who had lived in comparative affluence in their own coun-
try—to compete with common labourers, in communities where their language and
simple manners rendered them objects of derision and ridicule. The aged and infirm,
the widows and orphans, with those of their families who could not think of leaving
them alone in their helplessness, and a number, whose attachment to the soil which
contained the ashes of their ancestors, were induced to accept of the wretched allot-
ments offered them on the wild moors and barren rocks. The mild nature and religi-
ous training of the Highlanders prevented a resort to that determined resistance and
revenge which has repeatedly set bounds to the rapacity of landlords in Ireland.
Their ignorance of the English language, and the want of natural leaders, made it im-
possible-for them to make their grievances known to the outside world. They were,
therefore, maltreated with impunity. The ministers generally sided with the oppress-
ing lairds, who had the Church patronage at their disposal for themselves and for
their son^ The professed ministers of religion sanctioned the iniquity, " the foulest
deeds were glossed over, and all the evil which could not be attributed to the natives
themselves, such as severe seasons, famines, and consequent disease, was by these
pious gentlemen ascribed to Providence, as a punishment for sin."
The system of turning out the ancient inhabitants from their native soil through-
out the Highlands during the first half of the present century has been carried into
effect in the county of Sutherland with greater severity and revolting cruelty, than in
any other part of the Highlands, and that though the Countess-Marchioness and her
husband, the Marquis of Stafford, were by no means devoid of humanity, however
atrocious, and devoid of human feeling were the acts carried out in their name by
heartless, -underlings, who represented the ancient tenantry to their superiors as lazy
and rebellious, though, they maintained, everything was being done for their advant-
age and improvement. How this was done will be seen in the sequel. South country-
men were introduced and the land given to them for sheep farms over the heads of
the native tenantry. These strangers were made justices of the peace and armed with
Jl sorts of authority in the county, and thus enabled to act in the most harsh and
tyrannical, fashion, none making them afraid; while the oppressed natives were placed
>mpletdy.at their mercy. They dare not even complain, for were not their op-
ssors.also the administrators of the law ? The seventeen parish ministers, with the
^ception of the Rev. Mr Sage, took the side of the powers that were, exhort-
ing the people to submit and to stifle their cries of distress, telling them that all their
came from the hand of their Heavenly Father as a punishment for their past
THE SUTHERLAND EVICTIONS. ff
transgressions. Most of these ministers have since rendered their account, and let us
hope they have been forgiven for such cruel and blasphemous conduct. But One can-
not help noting, to what horrid uses these men in Sutherlandshire and elsewheYe pro-
stituted their sacred office and high calling.
The Sutherland clearances were commenced in a comparatively mild" way 'fit1
1807, by the ejection of ninety families from Farr and Lairg. These were provided
for some fifteen or seventeen miles distant with smaller lots, to which they were 'per-'
mitted to remove their cattle and plenishing, leaving their crops unprotected, however,"
in the ground from which they were evicted. They had to pull down1 'their" otd
houses, remove the timber, and build new ones, during which period rth'ey 'had
in many cases to sleep under the canopy of heaven. In the autumn they carried
away, with great difficulty, what remained of their crops, but the fatigue incurred"CosY
not a few of them their lives, while others contracted diseases which stuck to them dim-'
ing the remainder of their lives, and shortened their days.
In 1809 several hundred were evicted from the parishes of Dornoch, Rogaft; Lbthj
Clyne, and Golspie, under circumstances of much greater severity than those already
described. Several were driven by various means to leave the country altogether, and
to those who could not be induced to do so, patches of moor and bog were offered on
Dornoch Moor and Brora Links — quite unfit for cultivation. This process was car^'
ried on annually until, in 1811, the land from which the people were ejected was'
divided into large farms, and advertised as huge sheep runs. The country was over-
run with strangers, who came to look at these extensive tracts. Some of these gentle'-1
men got up a cry that they were afraid of their lives among the evicted tenantry.' '"&
trumped-up story was manufactured that one of the interlopers was pursued by 'Some
of the natives of Kildonan, and put in bodily fear. The military were sent for from
Fort-George. The 2 1st Regiment was marched to Dunrobin Castle, with artillery
and cartloads of ammunition. A great farce was performed; the people were 'sent for
by the factors to the Castle at a certain hour. They came peaceably, but the -farce1
must be gone through; the Riot Act was read; a few sheepish, innocent Highlanders
were made prisoners, but nothing could be laid to their charge, and they were almost"
immediately set at liberty, while the soldiers were ordered back to Fort -George,' The
demonstration, however, had the desired effect in cowing and frightening the people
into the most absolute submission. They became dismayed and broken-hearted, and
quietly submitted to their fate. The clergy all this time were assiduous in preaching
that all the misfortunes of the people were "fore-ordained of God, and denouncing
the vengeance of Heaven and eternal damnation on all those who would presume to
make the slightest resistance." At the May term of 1812 large districts of these
parishes were cleared in the most peaceable manner, the poor creatures foolishly be-
lieving the false teaching of their selfish and dishonest spiritual guides-— save the mark?
The Earl of Selkirk, who went personally to the district, allured many of the evicted
people to emigrate to his estates on the Red River in British North America, whither
a whole ship cargo of them went. After a long and otherwise disastrous passage, they"
found themselves deceived and deserted by the Earl, left to their unhappy fate in an
inclement wilderness, without any protection from the hordes of Red Indian savages,
by whom the district was infested, and who plundered them of their all on their
arrival, and finally massacred them, save a small remnant who managed to escape,'and
travelled, through immense difficulties, across trackless forests to Upper Canada:
The notorious Mr Sellar was at this time sub-factor, and in the spring of 1814 he
took a large portion of the parishes of Farr and Kildonan into his own hands;'' In 'the
38 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
month of March the old tenantry received notices to quit at the ensuing May term, and
a few days after the summonses were served the greater portion of the heath pasture
was, by his orders, set on fire. By this cruel proceeding the cattle belonging to the
old tenantry were left without food during the spring, and it was impossible to dispose
of them at a fair price, the price having fallen after the war; for Napoleon was now
n prisoner in Elba, and the demand for cattle became temporarily dull, and prices were
very much reduced. To make matters worse, fodder was unusually scarce this spring,
and the poor people's cattle depended for subsistence solely on the spring grass which
sprouts out among the heather, but which this year had been burnt by the factor, who
would himself reap the benefit when he came into possession later on.
In May the work of ejectment was again commenced, accompanied by cruelties
hitherto unknown even in the Highlands. Atrocities were perpetrated which I cannot
trust myself to describe in my own words. I shall give what is much more valuable—
a description by an eye-witness in his own language. He says:— In former removals
the tenants had been allowed to carry away the timber of their old dwellings to erect
houses on their new allotments, but now a more summary mode was adopted — by set-
ting fire to them. The able-bodied men were by this time away after their cattle, or
otherwise engaged at a distance, so that the immediate sufferers by the general house-
burning that now commenced were the aged and infirm, the women and children. As
the lands were now in the hands of the factor himself, and were to be occupied as
sheep farms, and as the people made no resistance, they expected, at least, some in-
dulgence in the way of permission to occupy their houses and other buildings till they
could gradually remove, and meanwhile look after their growing crops. Their con-
sternation was therefore greater, when immediately after the May term-day, a com-
mencement was made to pull down and set fire to the houses over their heads. The
old people, women and others, then began to preserve the timber which was their
own; but the devastators proceeded with the greatest celerity, demolishing all before
them, and when they had overthrown all the houses in a large tract of country they
set fire to the wreck. Timber, furniture, and every other article that could not be
instantly removed was consumed by fire or otherwise utterly destroyed. The proceed-
ings were carried on with the greatest rapidity and the most reckless cruelty. The
cries of the victims, the confusion, the despair and horror painted on the counten-
ances of the one party, and the exulting ferocity of the other, beggar all description.
In these scenes Mr Sellar was present, and apparently, as sworn by several witnesses
at his subsequent trial, ordering and directing the whole. Many deaths ensued from
alarm, from fatigue, and cold, the people having been instantly deprived of shelter,
and left to the mercies of the elements. Some old men took to the woods and to the
rocks, wandering about in a state approaching to, or of absolute insanity ; and several
of them in this situation lived only a few days. Pregnant women were taken in pre-
mature labour, and several children did not long survive their sufferings. "To these
scenes," says Donald Macleod, "I was an eye-witness, and am ready to substantiate
the truth of my statements, not only by my own testimony, but by that of many others
who were present at the time. In such a scene of general devastation, it is almost
useless to particularise the cases of individuals; the suffering was great and universal,
shall, however, notice a very few of the extreme cases of which I was myself an eye-
witness. John Mackay's wife, Ravigill, in attempting to pull down her house, in the
ibsence of her husband, to preserve the timber, fell through the roof. She was in
consequence taken in premature labour, and in that state was exposed to the open air
and to the view of all the bystanders. Donald Munro, Garvott, lying in a fever, was
THE SUTHERLAND EVICTIONS. 39
turned out of his house and exposed to the elements. Donald Macbeath, an infirm and
bed-ridden old man, had the house unroofed over him, and was in that state exposed
to the wind and rain until death put a period to his sufferings. I was present at the
pulling down and burning of the house of William Chisholm, Badinloskin, in which
was lying his wife's mother, an old bed-ridden woman of nearly 100 years of age, none
of the family being present. I informed the persons about to set fire to the house of
this circumstance, and prevailed on them to wait until Mr Sellar came. On his arrival,
I told him of the poor old woman being in a condition unfit for removal, when he re-
plied, 'Damn her, the old witch, she has lived too long — let her burn.' Fire was
immediately set to the house, and the blankets in which she was carried out were ii>
flames before she could be got out. She was placed in a little shed, and it wras with
great difficulty they were prevented from firing it also. The old woman's daughter
arrived while the house was on fire, and assisted the neighbours in removing her
mother out of the flames and smoke, presenting a picture of horror which I shall never
forget, but cannot attempt to describe." Within five days she was a corpse.
In 1816 Sellar was charged at Inverness, before the Court of Justiciary, with
culpable homicide and fire-raising in connection with these proceedings, and, consider-
ing all the circumstances, it is not at all surprising that he was "honourably" acquitted
of the grave charges made against him. Almost immediately after, however, he ceased
to be factor on the Sutherland estates, and Mr Loch came into power. Evictions were
carried out from 1814 down to 1819 and 1820, pretty much of the same character as
those already described; but the removal of Mr Young, the chief factor, and Mr Sellar
from power was hailed with delight by the whole remaining population. Their very
names had become a terror. Their appearance in any part of the county caused such
alarm as to make women fall into fits. One woman became so terrified that she be-
came insane, and whenever she saw any one she did not recognise, she invariably cried
out in a state of absolute terror — " 0?i! sin Sclfar" — "Oh! there's Sellar." The
people, however, soon discovered that the new factors were not much better. Several
leases which were current would not expire until 1819 and 1820, so that the evictions
were necessarily only partial from 1814 down to that period. The people were
reduced to such a state of poverty that even Mr Loch himself, in his "Sutherland
Improvements, page 76," admits that — "Tlieir wretchedness was so great that, after
pawning everything they possessed to the fishermen on the coast, such as had no cattle
were reduced to come down from the hills in hundreds for the purpose of gathering
cockles on the shore. Those who lived in the more remote situations of the county
were obliged to subsist upon broth made of nettles, thickened with a little oatmeal.
Those who had cattle had recourse to the still more wretched expedient of bleeding
them, and mixing the blood with oatmeal, which they afterwards cut into slices and
fried. Those who had a little money came down and slept all night upon the beach,
in order to watch the boats returning from the fishing, that they might be in time to
obtain a part of what had been caught." He, however, omitted to mention the share
he and his predecessors had taken in reducing the people to such misery, and the fact
that at this very time he had constables stationed at the Little Ferry to prevent the
starved tenantry from collecting shellfish in the only place where they could find them.
He prevailed upon the people to sign documents, consenting to remove at the
next Whitsunday term, promising at the same time to make good provision for them
elsewhere. In about a month after the work of demolition and devastation again com-
menced, and parts of the parishes of Golspie, Rogart, Farr, and the whole of Kildonan
were in a blaze. Strong parties with faggots and other combustible material were set
40 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
to work; throe hundred houses were given ruthlessly to the flames, and their occupants
pushed out in the open air without food or shelter. Macleod, who was present,
describes the horrible scene as follows:—
"The consternation and confusion were extreme; little or no time was given for
the removal of persons or property; the people striving to remove the sick and the
helpless before the fire should reach them; next, struggling to save the most valuable
of their effects. The cries of the women and children, the roaring of the affrighted
cattle hunted at the same time by the yelling dogs of the shepherds amid the smoke
and fire altogether presented a scene that completely baffles description— it required
to be seen to be believed.' A dense cloud of smoke enveloped the whole country by
day and even extended far out to sea ; at night an awfully grand but terrific scene
presented itself— all the houses in an extensive district in flames at once. I myself
ascended a height about eleven o'clock in the evening, and counted two hundred and
fifty blazing houses, many of the owners of which were my relations, and all of whom
I personally knew, but whose present condition — whether in or out of the flames — I
could not tell. The conflagration lasted six days, till the whole of the dwellings were
reduced to ashes or smoking ruins. During one of these days a boat actually lost her
way in the dense smoke as she approached the shore, but at night was enabled to
reach a landing-place by the lurid light of the flames."
The whole of the inhabitants of Kildonan, numbering nearly 2000 souls, except
three families, were utterly rooted and burnt out, and the whole parish converted into
a solitary wilderness. The suffering was intense. Some lost their reason. Over a
hundred souls took passage to Caithness in a small sloop, the master humanely agree-
ing to take them in the hold, from which he had just unloaded a cargo of quick lime.
A head storm came on, and they were nine days at sea in the most miserable condition
— men, women, and helpless children huddled up together, with barely any provisions.
Several died in consequence, and others became invalids for the rest of their days.
One man, Donald Mackay, whose family was suffering from a severe fever, carried
two of his children a distance of twenty-five miles to this vessel. Another old man
took shelter in a meal mill, where he was kept from starvation by licking the meal
refuse scattered among the dust on the floor, and protected from the rats and other
vermin by his faithful collie. George Munro, the miller at Farr, who had six of his
family down with fever, had to remove them in that state to a damp kiln, while his
home was given to the flames. And all this was done in the name of proprietors who
certainly were not themselves tyrants in the ordinary sense of the term.
General Stewart of Garth, about a year after the cruelties perpetrated in Suther-
land, writes with regret of the unnatural proceedings as " the delusions practised (by
his subordinates) on a generous and public-spirited proprietor, which have been so per-
severingly applied, that it would appear as if all feeling of former kindness towards the
native tenantry had ceased to exist. To them any uncultivated spot of moorland, how-
ever small, was considered sufficient for the support of a family ; while the most lavish
encouragement has been given to all the new tenants, on whom, with the erection of
buildings, the improvement of lands, roads, bridges, &c., upwards of £2 10,000 had
been expended since 1808 (in fourteen years). With this proof of unprecedented
liberality, it cannot be sufficiently lamented that an estimate of the character of these
poor people was taken from the misrepresentation of interested persons, instead of
judging from the conduct of the same men when brought into the world, where they
obtained a name and character which have secured the esteem and approbation of men
high in honour and rank, and, from their talents and experience, perfectly capable of
judging with correctness. With such proofs of capability, and with such materials for
carrying on the improvements and maintaining the permanent prosperity of the county,
when occupied by a hardy, abstemious race, easily led on to a full exertion of their
THE SUTHERLAND EVICTIONS. 41
faculties by a proper management, there cannot be a question, but that if, instead of
placing them, as has been done, in situations bearing too near a resemblance to the
potato-gardens of Ireland, they had been permitted to remain as cultivators of the soil,
receiving a moderate share of the vast sums lavished on their richer successors, such a
humane and considerate regard to the prosperity of a whole people would undoubtedly
have answered every good purpose." He then goes on to show that when the valleys
and higher grounds were let to the sheep-farmers, the whole native population was
driven to the sea shore, where they were crowded on small lots of land to earn subsist-
ence by labour and sea-fishing, the latter so little congenial to their former habits and
experience. " And these one or two acre lots are represented as improvements!" He
then asks how in a country, without regular employment or manufactories, a family is
to be supported on one or two acres ? The thing was impossible, and the consequence
is that "over the whole of this district, where the sea-shore is accessible, the coast is
thickly studded with thatched cottages, crowded with starving inhabitants," while
strangers, with capital, usurp the land and dispossess the swain. Ancient respectable
tenants, who passed the greater part of their lives in the enjoyment of abundance, and
in the exercise of hospitality and charity, possessing stocks of ten, twenty, and thirty
breeding cows, with the usual proportion of other stock, are now pining on one or two
acres of bad land, with one or two starved cows ; and for this accommodation a calcu-
lation is made, that they must support their families, and pay the rents of their lots,
not from the produce, but from the sea. When the herring fishery succeeds, they
generally satisfy the landlords, whatever privations they may suffer; but when the
fishing fails, they fall in arrears, and are sequestrated, and their stocks sold to pay the
rents, their lots given to others, and they and their families turned adrift on the world ;
but in these trying circumstances, he concludes, "We cannot sufficiently admire their
meek and patient spirit, supported by the powerful influence of moral and religious
principle."
The beautiful Strathnaver, containing a population equal to Kildonan, has been
cleared in the same heartless manner.
In 1828, Donald Macleod, after a considerable absence, returned to his native
Kildonan, where he attended divine service in the parish church, which he found
attended by a congregation consisting of eight shepherds and their dogs — numbering
between twenty and thirty — the minister, and three members of his family. Macleod
came in too late for the first psalm, but at the conclusion of the service the fine old
tune " Bangor" was given out, "when the four-footed hearers became excited, got up
on the seats, and raised a most infernal chorus of howling. Their masters attacked
them with their crooks, which only made matters worse; the yelping and howling
continued to the end of the service." And Donald Macleod retired to contemplate
the painful and shameful scene, and contrast it with what he had previously experienced
as a member, for many years, of the large and devout congregation that worshipped
formerly in the parish church of his native valley.
The Parish Church of Farr was no longer in existence; the fine population of
Strathnaver was rooted and burnt out during the general conflagration, and presented
a similar aspect to his own native parish. The church, no longer found necessary, was
razed to the ground, and its timbers conveyed to construct one of the Sutherland
"improvements" — the Inn at Altnaharra, while the minister's house was converted
into a dwelling for a fox-hunter. A woman, well-known in the parish, travelling
through the desolated Strath next year after the evictions, was asked on her return
home father news, when she replied — "Oh, chan eil ach sgiala bronach ! sgiala
bronach!" "Oh, only sad news, sad news! I have seen the timber of our well
attended kirk covering the inn at Altnaharra; I have seen the kirk-yard where our
friends are mouldering filled with tarry sheep, and Mr Sage's study turned into a kennel
for Robert Gunn's dogs, and I have seen a crow's nest in James Gordon's chimney
head ;" after which she fell into a paroxysm of grief. A. M.
42 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
ALTAVONA • FACT AND FICTION FROM MY LIFE IN THE HIGH-
LANDS. By JOHN STUART BLACKIE, F.R.S.E., Professor of Greek, Edin-
burgh. Edinburgh : David Douglas.
[SECOND NOTICE.]
THE more this work is looked into, the more will the reader be
astonished at the variety of topics treated ; it is truly a re-
pertory of most matters connected with the Highlands, in places,
persons, and problems. Nor less will he be delighted with the
unusual temperance with which the whole, including difficult
burning questions, are treated, and the skill and fairness with
which the different opinions on each are presented. As he
says himself, and as the world well knows, the Professor has
"decided views" on most of the important social problems spoken
of, but, as he also rightly claims, he strives always, when he most
violently condemns, to appreciate his antagonist's point of view,
and to state his case as sympathetically as possible. Then
the mixed olla podrida is seasoned with admirable relishes of
various kinds, which enhance the piquancy and palatableness
of the dish. The amount of quotable phrase and sparkling
point is remarkable in regard to most subjects. Errors or slips
in style or fact are exceedingly few, as when he follows the vulgar
mistake of making the whale feed upon herrings (p. 162). The
whole forms a worthy monument of the author on important
subjects to which he has devoted his later life; a valuable and
speaking presentation of his complex, but attractive, personality,
misunderstood by many, and known only to his intimates ; and a
contribution to Highland literature of eminent merit. The mere
enumeration of the many subjects touched by his facile pen would
fill our pages. Some of these, and we can touch only on a few
in the wide and fertile field, we can scarcely more than mention,
to give an idea of the racy variety of the entertainment, just as
they come to hand.
Of scenery, he has numerous picturesque sketches, good speci-
mens of word painting, more in the broad, free, dashing style of
ALTAVONA. 43
Sam Bough than in the fine, if not finical, elaborateness of Waller
Paton, who paints the sweet vignette in the title page. It is to
be hoped that the book will also help our tourists — it will the
thoughtful — to a wider and deeper appreciation of Highland
scenery than is common, for as the author pleads, sight-seeing
and scenery are much more " serious affairs" than they are gene-
rally made ; and that it will shew them in high degree how they
may become at once both education and enjoyment.
His portraits of the men he represents are unusually realistic
and clear, as witness his characterisation of the busy hive of tourists
on Oban Pier, but better still those of the greater personages he
talks of— such as that " Prince-Apostle" of the Celts, St Columba,
" a man of tall, stately, and aristocratic appearance, with powerful,
piercing eyes, and grandly resonant voice" ; "in temper, like St
Paul, a man of mettle and high spirit, and, like King David, a
sacred poet ; and if he had a rope for his belt round his middle,
depend upon it there was a sword hanging from it. In Columba
I see a really great man — the man of lofty thought, fervid love,
daring adventure, and enduring achievement."
The Professor, of course, pleads for a broad humanity in all
men " active, intelligent, heroic and fruitful," and utterly con-
temns and condemns the systematic stupefaction of manhood in
monkery. " We are here to fight the battle of life not to shirk
it. To seek for virtue among such men is like swimming in a
shallow pool where there is no danger of being drowned ; such
swimmers will never breast the Hellispont." The breadth and
freedom he asks for, however, might frighten weak nerves, as
when he admires the Frenchman who " fell on his knees before
all the spectators, and gave public thanks to the Architect of the
Universe" in Fingal's Cave, as doing something, "at once so
rational, so dramatic, and so devout," which no Scotsman or
Englishman would do, " the one being girt about with caution,
the other with pride."
He scatters his scorn on so-called Highland games, which
aesthetics and humanity unite in condemning as if Highlanders
were a poor down-trodden generation who have nothing but legs
to show, and he wishes "more brain, and less brawn" cultivated
at such gatherings.
He bemoans our prevalent want of taste in buildings under
44 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
the dominion "of the great goddess, Utilitaria, whom all Scotland
and the World worships," though he notes growing improvement
in this respect, and specially acknowledges that nothing attracts
his eye so much as " the graceful architecture of the new schools
throughout the Highlands." He also points out one source
of the Scotch want of aesthetic culture, in the fact that " Sandy
sees God only in the conscience and in the Bible, and not in
nature."
He gives long pieces of history sometimes of little known
periods and places, as the story of the Macleans, " high re-
nowned " in their own little corners ; but also of greater things,
notably of lona and its mighty influence over British religion,
sketching the outline of an epic with Columba as its greater
yEneas. And these chapters of history are wisely attached to
real places and scenes when these are visited. In the use of these
he gives an admirable lesson as to how national history should be
learned in order to be felt and truly realised ; for with Blackie,
as he says, and as it should be with all wise men and patriots,
" historical places are like roots from which whole centuries _of
buried life rise up resuscitated." It is to be feared that his cen-
sure of our Scotch obtuseness to the influences of the past, and
our " irreverent carelessness " in regard to some of our finest ec-
clesiastical ruins until recent years, is quite deserved, when he
says that " our regular Presbyterian Scot is, in some respects, a
most irreverent animal."
He has some good remarks regarding the Celtic pride of
ancestry, though in his incursions into this field, with all his
power of throwing interest round the dry, he is likely to stop
the common reader by a terrible treatise on Macdonald's genea-
logical tree in his first chapter. When " Church" boasts that he
" knows nothing about his grandmother," he exclaims, " the more
shame to you. The knowledge and esteem of ancestry has [one
of the few grammatical slips in the volume] been the fruitful
source whence the most brilliant feats of Celtic chivalry have
sprung. It is only the modern Celtic form of that instinct of an-
cestral reverence which caused the Greeks to raise a temple to
Theseus, and the Romans to do the same honour to Romulus" ;
though he confesses that this feeling has, no doubt, its degen-
erate type with not a few, " nothing better than a shallow senti-
ALTAVONA. 45
mcntalism, the hobby-horse of a ridiculous vanity, or the full-
blown bladder of an empty pride."
Of harder matters, the learned and omnivorous Professor gives
full taste, but bright, airy, and instructive withal, such as Gaelic
philology, which he seeks to put on a scientific basis, as against the
unscientific Gaelic enthusiasts for derivations and its uncorrupted
priority and superiority to other tongues ; gnarled Geology, as
exhibited round Oban, and in Kerrera and Mull, in this case
through the pen of that solemn fossil, the scientist " Hilarius,"
though the Professor trips when he speaks of the limestone of the
Garveloch Islands, as " one of the most southerly links of the great
limestone vein which crops out grandly at Inchnadamph and
uttermost Durness," the Lorn limestone being in a different
and much more easterly horizon ; and on Botany, on which he
delightedly discourses in Kerrara, at the brilliant pic-nic that
figures in his third dialogue, with its superabundent good cheer,
the liquid elements of which will, we fear, wreck the temperate
Professor's good fame with the T.T.'S and the G.T.'s, as the Times
has already more than hinted.
Of lighter subjects, we have ample store — Highland music ;
Highland poetry, of which he gives some admirable versions ; ori-
ginal lyrics, all sparklingly good of their kind, and not least, that in
praise of the Isle of Mist, done in no misty style, by the genial
Sheriff of Kirkcudbright ; his peculiar views of the functions of
war in national manhood ; his pro-German " blood and iron "
sympathies ; his frequent and righteous denunciations of modern
fashion and affectation and genteel snobbery, which are " smoth-
ering nature and strangling simplicity"; his fears of the time when,
"not cousinship and human kindness, but cash payment and politi-
cal economy shall have become the only bond that binds the
different classes of society together"; and a host of other pleasant
and profitable intrusions of glowing lavas into the more regular
and detailed series of the book.
Several social subjects are treated more in detail, by our pro-
Celtic Professor as bearing strongly on local and national well-
being. Of these, Highland education is one on which he has de-
cided views, and on which he has frequently spoken. He here again
dilates on his opinions in favour of Highland culture for the High-
land child, rich or poor, in addition to the subjects taught in com-
46 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
mon with Lowland schools. In the training of the upper classes of
the Highlands, he rightly laments that they are "educated, not as
Highland lairds, but as young Englishmen," having "deserted the
national schools and colleges for Eton and Oxford, to be trained
up in Anglified puppyism and would-be scholarly conceit."
" They cannot speak a word of Gaelic, and know more of Horace
and Homer — though that may be little enough — than of Duncan
Ban and Alastair Macdonald." They thus become " Highlanders
for the more part only in pride of pedigree, not in tone of sen-
timent or in type of culture." He deprecates any severe judg-
ment of such individuals, the common type of even our old High-
land proprietors' sons, for " they are what they are by the potent
influence of birth, education, habit, and tradition."
On the rational use of Gaelic as a valuable instrument in the
early education of the Gaelic child, as well as in his after culture,
he is as strong and as sensible as ever ; and he quotes in the ap-
pendix the Report of our local pro-Celtic inspector, Mr Jolly, for
1879, in favour of its use in our Highland schools, which was re-
cently adopted by the Federation of Celtic Societies as their reply
to the anti-Celtic opinions of some of his colleagues. The Professor
puts the whole subject in a nut-shell when he says, " A man may
have many languages, but he can only have one- mother tongue."
But on this topic we need not again enter more at length here.
Another important social subject to which he devotes large
space is the religion of the Highlands. On this difficult theme,
will be found in these pages as clear, temperate, reverent, and
far-reaching a statement of the state of this difficult problem as
we remember to have seen; combined with an unusually fresh
and philosophical presentation of the Celtic phase of the religious
sentiment, such as it has seldom or ever received, for which Pro-
fessor Blackie should gain our lasting gratitude, including that of
Dr Kennedy, who will not, we are sure, refuse it. While charac-
terising our excessive divisiveness in forming sects in Scotland,
which it would require " peculiar idiopathic microscopes" to dis-
cern the differences between, he sees in this tendency the activity
of our national religiousness. He attempts to account for the
Disruption on grounds on which there will ever be differences of
opinion, but his views deserve to be examined by both parties.
He endeavours very successfully to account for the strong anti-
ALTAVONA. 47
patronage and seemingly anti-Establishment attitude of the
Highlanders at the religious revolution of '43, and their present
pro-Establishment position, in connection with the movement for
Disestablishing the church. In doctrine, he not unjustly charac-
terises the Highlander as "the most orthodox, most narrow-
minded, and the most one-sided of all theologians." But no
where have the Highlander's special religious views been pre-
sented in such attractive and reasonable philosophic guise than in
this book, in regard even to those severer forms of Calvinism
that are his own pet doctrines, and the antipathy of others. As
to the average intelligent Highlander's ability to give a reason for
the faith that is in him, he says to his Oxonian friend, "If you
do wish to prove your mettle in a stiff theological argument,
depend upon it, my dear Kit, with all your Oxford Greek and
all your Aristotelian logic, you will find some Ferintosh evan-
gelist, even though not a D.D., an antagonist worthy of your
steel" — a not unmerited compliment, though most Lowlanders
will doubt its truth,
He strongly and rightly condemns the gloom that haunts
our Highland religious life and daily walk, as both " a renuncia-
tion of humanity and a declaration of war against all temporal
and visible enjoyments — a temper the very reverse of that which
was praised and practised by Socrates and other wise Greeks,
with whom religion was rather the art of enjoying the present
life according to reason." He also states an undoubted fact when
he piquantly says that " There is nothing more difficult for the
Highland mind to reconcile than gaiety and piety, amusement
and religion"; a reconciliation which our northern clergy should
set themselves actively to promote, in the interests of religion and
morals, and which we hope is now much nearer than it has too
long been. As was to be expected from such a lay preacher on
secular subjects on Sunday, he condemns " the Pharisaic formal-
ism with which our countrymen inculcate Sabbath observance, as,
beyond doubt, Jewish rather than Christian in its character, and
as giving to the letter of a statutable enactment a value which be-
longs only to the laws of eternal and inimitable morality" — a
statement of the Sabbath question at once theological and philo-
sophical, though making distinctions in the decalogue that some
will not relish.
48 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
He highly commends Highland preaching on various grounds.
He does not believe that its alleged want of practicality applies
more to it than to the general run of sermons " with which pious
ears are washed in this country, Sunday after Sunday, with such
faithfulness of pious routine." He is strong in praise of its fervid
appeal to the emotions, its addressing the heart above the head,
even when it offends most against cold pulpit proprieties, for
" tameness cannot be the style, nor propriety the law, of any sort
of effective discourse. In the English pulpit by systematically
cramping nature and damping fervour, you have murdered elo-
quence," which he holds to exist more in the Highlands than in
other parts of the country. The function of that peculiar High-
land religious class, the lay assistant bishops, called "the men," he
gives an admirable account of, and reason for, and would like to
see it in existence elsewhere. He describes the class very feli-
tiously and fairly (p. 333), and holds with truth that they could
not have acquired the high influence over their fellows they un-
questionably had, unless they had been endowed with talents cap-
able of commanding the attention and moulding the minds of an
intelligent peasantry.
But we have already been tempted too far for our space into
the attractive field of prose and poetry exhibited in Altavona.
One other important and pregnant question now daily claiming
increased attention and demanding no distant solution, on which
he enters very fully, the relation of the landowner to the tenant,
we reserve for a future day. Enough has, we hope, been said to
show that in this unique work on the Highlands, the intelligent
reader— and surely there are many such interested in the problems
discussed — cannot but rise from its perusal, to recur once more to
the words of its author, " rich in not a few facts and ideas," and
with a conviction that the Professor possesses, as he claims,
" knowledge enough to correct some of the misty conceptions
that float through the mind of the average Englishman," and,
he might added, Scotsman, on most subjects connected with the
Highlands of Scotland.
TO OUR CONTRIBUTORS.-Several important articles, communications,
ri queries arc unavoidably left over, but we hope to give most of them in our next
THE
CELTIC MAGAZINE
CONDUCTED BY
ALEXANDER MACKENZIE, F.S.A., Scot.
No. LXXXVL DECEMBER 1882. VOL. VIII.
THE SCULPTURED STONES OF ROSS & CROMARTY
BY CAPTAIN COLIN MACKENZIE, F.S.A., Scot.
X.
THE next stone in order for consideration is the Obelisk at
Shandwick. Cordiner seems to have been the first traveller to
take any particular notice of it, and thus describes it in his
Antiquities and Scenery of the North of Scotland :— " On a bank
near the shore, opposite to the ruins of a castellated house, called
Sandivick, and about three miles east from Feme, a very
splendid Obelisk is erected, surrounded at the base with large,
well-cut flag-stones; formed like steps. Both sides of the column
are elaborately covered with various enrichments, in well-finished
carved work. The one face presents a sumptuous cross, with a
figure of St Andreiv on each hand, and some uncouth animals
and flowerings underneath. The central division on the reverse,
renders it a piece of antiquity well worthy of preservation :
there is exhibited in that such a variety of figures, birds, and
animals, as seemed what might prove a curious subject of investi-
gation; I have therefore given a distinct delineation of them, at
D
50 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
the foot of the column, on a larger scale, that their shapes might
be distinctly ascertained, and the more probable conjectures
formed of their allusion". This account is contained in a letter
from Cordiner to Pennant, dated Dornoch, June 131*1, 1776.
The " delineation" is that of the reverse of the stone, and the
engraving appears along with the above letterpress in the
Antiquities and Scenery. In the Remarkable Ruins, Cordiner
sayS:__«The stone is still in great preservation. Within the
circle of a few miles in that district, are many similar monuments;
but most of the others are either fallen down or broken, however,
many curious fragments of them are still to be seen." A drawing
of the obverse of the stone also appears in the Remarkable Ruins.
Dr Stewart says of this cross: — " This magnificent Obelisk lies
near the village of Shandwick, in the Parish of Nigg, about a mile
westward from the stone at Hilton, and a quarter of a mile from
the sea shore. It was unfortunately blown down within the last
ten years [Stewart writes in 1856,] and, in consequence, broken
into two pieces." Hugh Miller says, Scenes and Legends: — " The
stone of Shandwick is still standing,* and bears on the side
which corresponds to the obliterated surface of the other [i.e. the
Hilton slab,] the figure of a large cross, composed of circular
knobs wrought into an involved and intricate species of fret
work, which seems formed by the twisting of myriads of snakes.
In the spaces on the sides of the shaft there are two huge,
clumsy-looking animals, the one resembling an elephant, and the
other a lion ; over each of these a St Andrew seems leaning
forward from his cross; and on the reverse of the obelisk the
sculpture represents processions, hunting scenes, and combats."
Dr Stewart does not fall in with all Messrs Cordiner and Miller's
conclusions. He observes: — " It has been supposed that the
figures on each side of the cross, immediately beneath the trans-
verse bar, are intended to represent St Andrew on his cross, but
it may be doubted whether they are not meant to represent
angels with displayed wings, like those on the stone at Eassie.
The pillar is of freestone. The raised bosses or knobs on the
face of the cross appear on many of the Irish monuments, and on
* In a note he remarks, " since, however, blown down in a storm, and broken
into three pieces." This is erroneous, as the stone has only been broken in two pieces,
as described by Dr Stuart.
SCULPTURED STONES. . 51
St Martin's cross at lona. The same sort of ornament was long
continued on the Highland targets."
The account of the Parish of Nigg, drawn up for the New
Statistical Account of Scotland by the Rev. Lewis Rose, and re-
vised in 1836, has the following : — " [The cross] at Shandwick is
called 'Clack a Ckarridhf$\& stone of the bury ing-ground. 'Carridli
is the Gaelic word for a burial-place ; and it was a mistake, in the
former Statistical Account, to call this stone ' Clach a Charraigl
the stone of the rock. It is about 8 feet high, 4 broad, and I thick.
It has been often described and admired by the lovers of antique
curiosities. The ground around was, for ages, employed as a
burying-place, but it has not been used for that purpose within
the last fifty years. [Since 1786?]." Mr Denoon remarks of the
cross : — "Another stone somewhat similar to the Hilton stone,
stands on a hill at the back of Shandwick village, on the estate
of Balnagown. It is about 9 feet high, 3 feet broad, and 6 inches
thick. It was erected, we are told, over the remains of another
son of the King of Denmark, who had been wrecked on Craig
Cary (Cary Rock). These rocks were also called the King's sons,v
and the stone is called Clach Cary (the Cary stone)." Here we
have another proof of many of the uncertainties of tradition. Mr
Denoon refers to the " Cary Rock," and calls the cross itself
" Clach Cary." Now, this latter name looks very like a repetition
of the " Clach a Charraig," the stone of t/ie rock, mentioned above,
and which the Rev. Lewis Rose tells us should be read the stone
of the burying ground — or has it anything to do with Prince
Carius ? The reader may remember that the spot where the
Edderton incised stone stands is called " Carry Blair," or the
battlefield of Carius, and that it is said to mark the grave of a
certain Prince Carius, who, at the head of a body of " invading
Norwegian pirates," was defeated and slain there. What a talent
our ancestors had for ascribing all their antiquities to a foreign
origin ; and the belief has not died out yet. Both the incised
obelisks and the beautiful sculptured crosses are ascribed con-
temporaneously to the Vikings ! It is high time that truthful
history should be written and error dissipated. In other words,
that the civilised Pict should be shown to have been the man of
culture, not the semi-barbarous Northman.
That the Shandwick stone is the oldest of the crosses of
52 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
Easter Ross, I can scarcely doubt, though the fragmentary state
of the Tarbat crosses renders it difficult to assign a particular
date to their erection. I shall, however, later on, endeavour to
fix an approximate date to the Shandwick cross, but in the
meantime I deem it best to lay aside theory, and describe the
stone as it actually appears at present I also beg to refer the
reader to a note in No. VIII. of these papers, where I pointed out
that though Cordiner's pictures in the Antiquities and Scenery
were deserving of praise, those in the Remarkable Ruins were by
no means reliable. Having now carefully observed and noted
the discrepancies between Cordiner's sketch in the latter book, the
Sculptured Stones of Scotland, and the Shandwick cross itself, I
intend, as I proceed with my description, to point out the errors
shown in Cordiner's picture of the obverse, as inserted in the
Remarkable Ruins. This latter I do for the three following reasons.
First_of Dr Stewart's Sculptured Stones of Scotland, only a
limited number of copies were printed for the Spalding Club ; the
book is very dear; and it is not generally accessible. Secondly — •
It will probably never be reproduced, as a whole, either in its
present or in a more popular form ; and but a very scanty num-
ber of its plates have been reproduced, often very faultily by
means of woodcuts, which must be painfully sought for through
the pages of a multitude of writers upon archaeology. Thirdly —
That Cordiner's Remarkable Ruins are in the hands of many
persons, who are as unable to obtain access to the writers latterly
mentioned, as they are to Dr Stewart's . work itself, and who
might therefore be led by Cordiner to form erroneous conceptions
of the Ross-shire monuments, were no steps taken to point out in
what particulars the plates in the Remarkable Ruins are at fault.
The first thing to be observed with regard to the obverse of
the stone is that it is perfectly square at the top, whereas Cordiner
represents it as being rather pointed. A raised rim seems origin-
ally to have run all round the stone. What first catches the eye
is a large Latin cross, occupying the whole upper half of that face
of the obelisk looking seawards, and having semi-circular pieces
cut out at the intersection of the arms, a very common Celtic
pattern, of which stones at Brodie, Elgin, St Vigeans (No. 2),
Kingoldrum, Kirriemuir, &c., might be cited as examples. Cord-,
iner on the contrary inserts at the intersections perforated circles,
SCULPTURED STONES. 53
a type perfectly distinct from the other and of which the Cross
(No. 3) at Meigle is a good example. But what constitutes the
most curious feature of this Shandwick cross is that, instead of
being filled in with knot or other work, it is ornamented with a
double row of bosses or knobs. There are ten of these upon each
of the upper arms, twenty-two upon the lower arm or stem of the
cross, and four in the centre. These centre four are the smallest ;
four at each of the intersections, that is sixteen bosses, are of
medium size ; while the thirty-six, occupying the broader portion
of the limbs, are the largest. There are, therefore, fifty-six bosses
in all. Some of these bosses are now almost weathered away.
From the peculiar shape given by Cordiner to this cross in his
drawing, he has been unable to represent either the proper position,
size, form, or number of these bosses. Dr Stuart has called
attention to this boss ornamentation as resembling that of St
Martin's Cross at lona and that of various Irish crosses; but I am
glad to find that he does not raise upon this fact any hypothesis
as to the Shandwick stone being the work of Irish sculptors.
The truth is that the boss work was common to all the Celts. It
maybe found on Sarcophagi at Meigle and St Andrews, and on
crosses at Dunfallandy, St Madoes, Aberbuno, a fragment at St
Vigeans, and more especially scattered over the head of the very
fine cross (No. 4) at Meigle. But the most important fact of all
is that bosses are used on all the monuments in the immediate
neighbourhood of the Shandwick stone. The Cross of Nigg is
most profusely decorated with them, both round and oval, and
beautifully ornamented ; the border of a fragment of a cross at
Tarbat is studded with them ; between the intersections of the
arms, and the circular disc which surrounds the cross on one side
of the Edderton stone, are four bosses, and also one in the centre ;
four bosses appear in the four corners of the square which sur-
rounds the Greek cross on one side of the Rosemarkie obelisk ;
and there is no reason why the cross which once was engraved
upon the Hilton slab should not have been similarly ornamented.
No bosses appear upon the rude symbol-inscribed standing stones.
Regarding the two spaces above the transverse limbs of the
cross, we find that the ornamentation of one is quite obliterated,
while the other contains a rude sort of padlock-shaped ornament,
as if the padlock were turned upside down ; the handle or catch
,4 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
of the padlock being twisted, and the centre filled, with knot
work And now I have to call attention to one of Cordmer's
most flagrant mistakes, which, had he lived in our own day, I
trust he would never have committed. Doubtless owing to the
height of the cross, he was unable to make out the state of the spaces
above the arms,and so he quietly evolved out of his inner conscious-
ness a couple of kneeling angels, who never could have existed. Of
these and the two bending priests on the Nigg slab he cooly says, in
the Remarkable Ruins:—11 The figures in praying postures on the
fragment [at Nigg,] and those [at Shandwick,] seemed to have
been similar ones, or angels bending at the cross." He then
proceeds to argue that these figures, the cross itself, the two^ St
Andrews on crosses (of which more anon), and the dove placing
the consecrated wafer on the patten (on the Nigg slab), bear
testimony that these stones were decorated with figures, &c.,
copied from illuminated missals brought from Rome. He says:
« The missionaries from the Church of Rome, bringing their
missals and other books along with them, artists would have
access to sec them. By the taste of the times, these books from
the Continent were in general illuminated with various paintings.
The piety of the new converts adopted these as the chief embel-
lishments for their monumental stones." How then about our
own primitive Christianity ? How then about St Ninian and St
Columba who preached the simple gospel to Scotland, long
before Rome sent us priests to drive the country wild over the
peculiar form of the tonsure, or the particular day upon which
Easter should be celebrated ? How about the Columbian
Gospels of Durrow ? The nearest approach to Celtic art, as far
as missals are concerned, which I ever saw, was a rude representa-
tion in an illuminated copy of the Revelation of St John, then in
the Royal Library of Madrid, depicting the Great Dragon sweeping
the stars out of heaven with his tail. The form of the old serpent
reminded me strongly of some of the more uncouth monsters of
the standing stones. But the famous Codex Argenteus, which I
have seen in the library of Upsala in Sweden, and which is the
oldest Christian manuscript I have ever seen, though written in
letters of silver, and older than the Gospels of Durrow, is not
illuminated. A certain connection between the embellishment of
some of the Saxo-Northumbrian crosses, and early Roman Missals,
SCULPTURED STONES. 55
may be traced, for it was a Roman missionary, St Augustine, who
converted the Saxons, but to endeavour to prove that Celtic or-
nament can be found in any purely Roman Missal, of even the
ninth, or tenth, or eleventh century, is simply to court ignominious
failure. Celtic civilization like Celtic art was indigenous, and
what Saxon and Gothic barbarism actually wrought upon the for-
mer, the Roman missionary (belauded by Cordiner), endeavoured
to wreak upon the latter.
Dr Stuart says : — " Mr Westwood reminds us, that of the
copies of the Holy Scriptures sent into England by St Gregory,
with the mission of St Augustine, two are still preserved, and that
they are different in the character of the writing from the Irish,
as well as remarkable for their wanting the ornamentation which
is so prominent in these." Owen Jones, in his Grammar of Orna-
ment, under " Celtic Ornament," remarks — " All the most ancient
Italian manuscripts are entirely destitute of ornamental elabora-
tion." Does not all this go to prove that the art of illumination
took its rise among the Celts, who must at that time have reached
a high pitch of civilisation and culture.
Vae Victis. Woe to the conquered. The splendid pageants
of the Roman Church were not long in supplanting the simple
service of the Culdees. The high mass in the lofty fane blazing
with gorgeous vestments, gold, and jewels, and redolent of the
reek of incense, as surely appealed to the senses, as the simple
service outside the hermit's wattled booth, or rough stone cell, had
gone home to the heart. But there is a comforting old proverb,
" Threatened men live long." Palestine was conquered long ago,
but there are still myriads of Jews. As long as the Celt lives, his
art will live with him. Many a Highland dirk and snuff-box
boast to-day the patterns which were in vogue a thousand years
ago — and who shall say that the Highlanders, who, with resistless
bayonets, charged the murderous lines of Tel-el-Kebir, were one
whit behind those who died in their blood upon the Muir of
Drummossie. Amongst an enlightened and chivalrous race,
native art like native courage will never die!
(To be continued.)
MEMOIR OF SIR JAMES MATHESON OF THE LEWS, BART.— The
portion of "The History of the Mathesons" containing this Memoir is not for sale
separately. It was specially printed for Lady Matheson " for private circulation" only,
THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
THE LATE DANIEL MACKINLAY.
ONE of the duties which we laid down for ourselves, when
this periodical came into existence, was to commemorate the good
deeds of Highlanders who have made for themselves a position
in Hfc_in the military, literary, or learned professions, or in the
commercial world. In the latter Daniel Mackinlay, who, on the
3rd of October last, died at Portobello, aged 72, deserves special
notice. He was born in 1810, of respectable parents, his father
being Peter Mackinlay, at one time tenant of the farm of Arnish,
in the Island of Lews, and his mother Sybella, daughter of
Captain Kennedy of Stornoway. His career adds another instance
to the many examples among our countrymen which go to show
that success does not always depend on the start which one gets
to begin the world with. Mackinlay was eminently a self-made man.
His father died while Daniel was a mere boy, leaving his little son
utterly penniless, and without even the knowledge of the three .R's;
but, thanks to our Scottish Parochial School system, then in ex-
istence, and the assistance of a good and wise mother, Daniel,
naturally a bright intelligent boy, early became a good scholar,
and soon obtained a private tutorship in the family of Mr
Maciver of Gress. He afterwards occupied a similar position in
the family of Mr Stewart, father of the present popular and well-
known John Stewart of Ensay, late of Duntulm. Subsequently
he secured a situation in the office of Mr Murdo Robertson of the
Bill Chamber, Edinburgh ; and from there he got into the office
of Mr Thomas Mackenzie, younger of Applecross, M.P., and W. S.
in Edinburgh. From here he was, in 1844, sent to Calcutta to
take the management of the firm of Gillanders, Arbuthnot, & Co.,
a position which he obtained solely, in consequence of the able
and judicious manner in which he carried through some legal
business entrusted to his employer, and in which Mr George
Arbuthnot, of Morris Bank, was interested. By careful and pru-
dent management he piloted the house, now under his charge,
safely over the disastrous failures of 1847-48, when so many
others came to grief. He continued his successful commercial
career abroad until 1860, when he was able to return home with
THE LATE DANIEL MACKINLAY. 57
a handsome fortune. So much esteemed was he by his brother
merchants in Calcutta — who had previously conferred upon him
the Presidentship of the Chamber of Commerce — the highest
honour at their disposal — that, on his retirement, they had his
portrait painted and hung up in their Chamber, while at the same
time they presented him with a valuable service of plate, in re-
cognition of his services to his brothers in commerce.
One who knew him intimately informs us that '"though
Mackinlay was most successful as a merchant, his memory will
be cherished more for his heart qualities than for those of the head.
Nothing pleased him so much as doing a good turn for young
Highlanders. When any one applied for an appointment for any
Highland lad, Mackinlay would, with the utmost pleasure, enter
heart and soul into the matter, and do all in his power, which was
a great deal, generally ending in securing a good appointment
for the applicant. During his stay in Calcutta, from 1844 to
1860, he performed many acts of kindness for his countrymen
which can never be published, but which remain engraved on the
hearts of the grateful recipients of his liberality and aid. If a
Lews man landed at that port, and needed anything, Mackinlay
was sure to find him out and assist him. He was the first who
recognised the merits of the late Kenneth Macleod, of Greshor-
nish, and placed him in that position, where, by his own natural
ability, he quickly amassed a fortune. Mackinlay was, in a word,
the brightest ornament and the greatest benefactor to the Lews,
among its own sons, that ever left it. He had always a kindly
feeling to his native island and its inhabitants — at one time
getting up subscriptions for the widows of its brave fishermen,
who had perished at sea; at another, interesting himself in the
welfare of its poor crofter inhabitants ; indeed he was always
thinking of them."
Mackinlay has provided several open bursaries of ^"15 and
£10 each, tenable for three years, for competition among the
youth of the Lews, to encourage and help on those of them tak-
ing up any of the learned professions. Though he never made
the slightest effort to make himself so, he was very popular with
all those who really knew him ; and his friends were not of the
class who knew him to-day and forgot him to-morrow. They
were all, like himself, genuine and true, and those of them who
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assembled at his grave — many of whom came long distances —
felt as if, by his death, they had lost a brother.
In 1874 he rented the shootings of Gress in the Lews, where
he afterwards resided for a few years during the sporting season,
and showed great interest in the position of the poorer inhabitants
of the Island. In 1870 some correspondence appeared in the
newspapers about the condition of the Lews crofters, and Mr
Mackinlay addressed a long letter to Mr Hugh M. Matheson,
Commissioner for the Island, under Sir James Matheson, Bart,
which he published at the time, with an appendix of 43 pages,
and which contains a mass of interesting and valuable information
regarding the past history of the Island, its management, and the
condition of its inhabitants. Taking him all in all, he was one of
those self-made Highlanders of whom not only his own immediate
friends, but his countrymen generally, may well feel proud, and
whose name well deserves recognition in a periodical like ours.
A. M.
THE GREATNESS OF GOD.
(From the Gaelic of Dugald Buchanan, 1716-1768.)
O, what is God or what the name of God ?
The highest angel cannot comprehend ;
Nor eye nor thought can reach His dread abode
Concealed in dazzling brightness without end.
Himself the fountain whence His Being flows,
His every attribute is increate ;
In His own nature on He ever goes,
His self-perfection bearing up His State.
Youth and old age come not within the sphere
Wherein He moves the same from aye to aye ;
Nor sun nor moon shall measure His career,
For these compared with Him soon pass away.
Immortal day proceeds out from His eye,
When He reveals His glory or His grace ;
And forthwith all the hosts of heaven high
Attempt, each with his wings, to veil his face.
THE GREATNESS OF GOD. 59
And if in wrath His countenance He shews,
Terror shall suddenly the skies o'erspread ;
At His rebuke the ocean backward flows,
And earth itself is moved with conscious dread.
The works of Nature flourish and decay ;
From change to change they ever onward go ;
But all His actions unity display ;
And in His Being there's neither ebb nor flow.
Angels and men to nothing both are nigh,
The womb whence all have sprung which God hath made ;
But, being eternal, His perfections high
Shall, from their very nature, never fade.
When Nothing heard the voice of His command
The vast creation rose in Majesty ;
The earth that teems with life by sea and land ;
The heavens with all the heavenly host on high.
Then He looked down and viewed creation all,
And blessed each creature in its several place ;
Nor needed change in any, great or small,
Among His works —so good in every case.
Upon His palm revolves the firmament,
With every star that twinkles in the skies ;
In hollow of His hand creation's pent,
And for support on His strong arm relies.'
O, God ! who can Thy Being compass round,
Whose depths all reason tries to sound in vain ?
Angels and men attempting this are found
Like mussel-shells that try to grasp the main.
Thou art a King from all eternity
To whom this world's but yesterday begun ;
Oh ! small's the histoiy we've heard of Thee ;
Nor great of Thine all works beneath the sun.
Although the sun to nothing should decay,
With all the planets that on Him attend,
As little would Thy works miss them away
As ocean would a drop on finger-end.
Creation cannot with its glory all
Reveal to us in full God our strong tower ;
In total of His works both great and small
We but perceive an earnest of His power.
THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
How vain for us with shallow thought endowed
To search an ocean that is infinite ;
The smallest letter of the Name of God
For our poor reason is too great a weight.
For there is nought that can with Thee compare
'Mongst all the mighty works which Thou hast clone
And 'mongst all men no language can declare
Thy Name aright, but Thine Own Word alone.
JOHN SINCLAIR, B.D., Minister of Rannoch.
Manse of Kinloch- Rannoch.
THE HIGHLANDERS AND THEIR TASTES.-It has become a favourite
pretence on the part of some that music and the fine arts are the great means of refin-
ing and elevating society. Now, music and the fine arts are good in their own place,
but experience proves that, apart from other elements, they have no tendency what-
ever to promote a high-toned morality. It may be said, for example, that no class of
men abhor the introduction of instrumental music into worship more, or care less for
the fine arts, than the Highlanders ; whilst Italy is the land of ecclesiastical splendour,
sculpture, and enchanting music. Yet it is of that land that the poet says—
" In florid beauty groves and fields appear ;
Man is the only growth that dwindles here.
Though grave, yet trifling, zealous, yet untrue,
And even in penance planning sins anew.
My soul, turn from them, turn thee to survey
Where rougher climes a nobler race display."
Ruskin, speaking of the Indian Mutiny, suppressed by the Highlanders, says— "Out
of the peat cottage come forth courage, self-sacrifice, purity, and piety, and whatever
else is fruitful in the work of heaven ; out of the ivory palaces come treachery, cruelty,
cowardice, idolatry, bestiality, or whatever else is fruitful in the work of hell." All
our military commanders, including the most recent, turn to the noble Highlanders,
wedded to their simple forms of devotion, as men true as steel in the discharge of
duty. — Speech by Dr Begg.
THE GLENALMOND HIGHLANDERS AT WIMBLEDON.— The repre-
sentative of Glenalmond has been again successful in winning the Spencer Cup at
Wimbledon for the best individual shot in all the Public Schools. The winner this
year was Lance-Corporal Scott. On the prize day, in the words of the Times,
" Lance-Corporal Scott, in the Highland uniform of Glenalmond, was loudly cheered
as he went for the Spencer Cup," and the annual reception of the Glenalmond team
at Wimbledon shows that "nowhere beats the heart more kindly," not only "than
beneath the tartan plaid," but than in Scotch breasts in the South at the sight of it.
6r
LAND NATIONALISATION— ITS NECESSITIES
AND ITS AIMS.*
THAT a man like Alfred Russel Wallace, so enthusiastic and
successful in the pursuit of natural science in its higher rela-
tions, should withdraw his attention from such studies to write a
book on the nationalisation of the land is in itself a fact of the
utmost significance. Those who imagine that the land tenure of
this country is to continue like the earth itself for ever, should
ponder, we will not say the conclusions of the work before us, but
the fact that such a book, and by such a man, should come to be
written at all. Our author is not a man who is unaccustomed to
reasoning in the closest possible manner, but not after the manner
of the school-men, who build portentuous theories on the narrow
basis of a few first principles which have never been tested by
experience. On the contrary, it is his habit to compare, analyse,
test, and combine facts, revealed in actual life, and from these to
draw out the theory which give them unity and intelligibility.
This power is so conspicuous in his many charming works on the
phenomena of sea and land, as to make him a rival — some would
even place him higher — of Darwin himself. But keen as was the
pleasure which Mr Wallace found in tracing the methods which
nature pursued in the past in order to find an explanation of the
present earth and all that it contains, he nevertheless has been for
a long time a sympathising observer of the social condition of
these islands of ours. One striking peculiarity of the state of
this country impressed itself on the mind and heart of Mr
Wallace so much that all his power of thinking was set earnestly
to work to find its explanation and its remedy — for remedy it
needs as much, nay more, than fever or small-pox. The fact re-
ferred to is the appalling one that the vast increase of the wealth of
this country has not diminished its poverty and wretchedness.
Nay, it seems certain that thousands of our people are sunk in a
lower hell than they were when millionaires were unknown. The
sad truth that misery is the lot of multitudes who help to produce
* By Alfred Russel Wallace, author of " The Malay Archilpelago, "
"Island Life," etc. London : Trithner & Co.
62 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
the splendid fortunes in which they have no share sufficient t9
cover their nakedness, or warm their blood, or fill their stomachs,
finds its explanation, according to our author, in the absolute
ownership in land conferred by law on private individuals. Now,
according to him, if wealth is not only to shed a lustre over a
select portion of society, but if it is to put reasonable animal
comfort, and the decencies and refinements of moral and intellec-
tual life,' within the reach of those whose lot it is to toil with their
hands, then this private individual and absolute ownership in land
must cease and determine. This is no hurried and impulsive
conclusion on the part of our author under the pressure of feeling
called into play by the dark contrast between the extremes of
splendour and squalor, of the baronial hall, and the hut at once a
byre and a dwelling-house, so frequently seen in our country.
For eighteen years our author has been meditating on this mo-
mentous subject— a subject which the hard facts of existence will
not suffer to go to sleep until some solution of it is accomplished.
Mr Wallace may have argued himself into conclusions which are
impracticable, a favourite phrase of the indolent, the faithless, and
the timid in all ages, but supported, as they are, with so many
deplorable facts, and with so much lucid and unimpassioned
reasoning — for passion is suppressed in this book as firmly as if
it were a study in quaternions — no wise man will dismiss them
without earnest study.
It is not easy to present in small space Mr Wallace's theory
of the Nationalisation of the Land. We refer the reader to the
book itself, which, like the work of every great writer is intensely
interesting in virtue of its facts, its illustrations, and general spirit,
apart from the particular theory which it upholds. The chapter,
for example on landlordism in Scotland will bring a tear to the
eye of many whose ancestors were dealt with, as if they were so
much scrub on the land — aye, and of many who have themselves
been so used ; perhaps too it will prick some consciences imperv-
ious to the arrows of our native — and therefore it is supposed
prejudiced writers — our Millers, Macleods, and Mackenzies.
But let us try to give the reader a general idea of Mr Wallace's
solution of the Land Problem, and first let us quote what he holds
to be the necessary requirements of a right solution.
i. It is clear that landlordism must be replaced by occupying
LAND NATIONALISATION. 63
ownership. No less radical reform will get rid of tlrc widespread
evils of our present system.
2. Arrangements must be made by which the tenure of the
holders of land must be secure and permanent, and nothing must
be permitted to interfere with the free use of the land, or his
certainty of reaping all the fruits of any labour or outlay he may
bestow upon it.
3. Arrangements must be made by which every British
subject may secure a portion of land for personal occupation at
its fair agricultural value.
4. All suitable tracts of unenclosed and waste lands must,
under certain limitations be open to cultivation by occupying
owners.
5. The free sale and transfer of every holder's interest in his
land must be secured.
6. In order that these conditions be rendered permanent,
sub-letting must be absolutely prohibited, and mortgages strictly
limited.
But how is it possible to give effect to these conditions, how
can a tenant become an occupying owner without being a landlord
under another name, and, therefore, a new source of all the evils
which flow from our present system of landlordism ?
Mr Wallace answers — The State must become the real
owner, or ground landlord. The tenant is to be a perpetual
holder of the land, not its absolute owner — the absolute owner
being the State. This in effect is the feudal theory which makes
the land belong to the king and all proprietors to be but holders
of the land from him. It must be borne in mind that Mr Wallace
would not transfer to the State all that now belongs to the pro-
prietors of lands. We must make a distinction between the estate
and what the landlord in his own person or that of his predeces-
sors, has put upon or into the estate. Nature is responsible for
the one, cultivation in some form or other for the latter. Mr
Wallace would have the State take possession of the estate as it
is, mere land apart from what labour has added to it. Land has
a natural and inherent value depending in part on the condition
and position of the soil, in part on such circumstances as popula-
tion and the necessities which, in the shape of towns, ports, rail-
roads, etc., and an abundant population create. This value the
64 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
landlord has, as a whole, no power either of creating or destroy-
ing When the land is nationalised it will become, in this respect,
and only in this respect, the absolute property of the State. But
a cultivated estate has a value which is due to actual improvement,
apart from its natural value. This consists in houses, fences,
timber, drains, and roads not made at the public expense. In the
new scheme the State is not allowed to take possession of this
portion of the value of land. The characteristic which dis-
tinguishes this element of the value of land from the inherent
value, is that as it was created by human energy, so it may be
destroyed by neglect and wantonness. It is therefore of vital im-
portance that all that belongs to the land as distinct from the
land itself, all that is involved in tenant right should become the
property of the tenant, so that he may if he choose dispose of it,
in part or whole, in open market, at a profit if he has added to its
value, at a loss if he allows it to deteriorate.
But how is he to get possession of it without injury to the
landlord or the State ? The answer is, that the State will deter-
mine the value of the land which it takes into its own hand apart
from what is called the tenant right. For the loss of this the
State will compensate the landlord by an annuity of equal annual
value, only terminable on certain conditions. The landlord can-
not bequeath these annuities to an heir further removed in blood
than a second cousin, as such can have no just expectation of
inheriting the property of a relation so far off. In all cases for a
similar reason the annuities will terminate with the third genera-
tion.
Now, in the first place, tenants, after the passing of the Act,
who wish to become occupying owners, must pay the value of
this annuity to the State in the form of rent ; and, secondly, they
must purchase the tenant right from the landlord, \vho will be
obliged to sell. They may arrange the matter privately ; but
failing that, a land court will decide the value of the tenant right.
When the tenant pays his annual rent to the State, and the value
of the tenant right to the landlord, he becomes a holder of the
land in perpetuity under the State. This holder may buy as
much as he can, or sell what he has. He may divide and sub-
divide his holding, and sell the various parts separately. This
freedom, however, is to be limited by two stringent restrictions.
LAND NATIONALISATION. 65
Sub-letting is to be absolutely forbidden ; in other words, no
man is to occupy more land than he can occupy personally; for
sub-letting would be private landlordism under another name.
The next restriction is that heavy mortgages on the land must
not be allowed.
Such is a general view of the theory which Mr Wallace has
elaborated after years of laborious study. In his book he dis-
cusses rival solutions of this vast question, and finds them want-
ing. Besides, he reviews with great clearness those objections
founded on ethical and political grounds which have been raised
against the position claimed for the State in relation to the land.
Further, our author deals, in the frankest way, with the bearing
of this scheme on the future position of our aristocracy, on our
towns, our commons, our mines, our taxation, etc. Mr Wallace
does not hesitate to follow his argument whither it leads him,
and it has led him to the conviction that he has found a means of
transferring to the State the ownership of the land without doing
injury to any existing landlord or expectant heir ; that he has hit
upon a plan of land tenure which shall combine all the advantages
of " safe possession and transmissible ownership ;" and that shall
guard us from the untold evils of the present system, and that
shall render the land an inexhaustible source of national income.
If all this be true, may the good time coming put swifter feathers
in its wing!
We shall not attempt a criticism of Mr Wallace's theory.
Gradually society may reach his ideal, but that idea is divided
from our present circumstances by a gulf so wide that it might
be dangerous to try to jump it at a bound. If ever realised it
must be in the way that his own favourite evolution attains its
end, here a little and there a little in the way of change, though
let us hope with less waste, and more economy in the matter of
time. Whatever may be our convictions as to the soundness of
Mr Wallace's conclusions, most unprejudiced minds will allow
that he has conclusively shewn that our present system of land
tenure is productive of results, condemned by philosopher, econo-
mist, and Christian. The root of the mischief lies in the assump-
tion made by the landlords that the land is theirs in a manner so
absolute that they may turn it into a desert. Our fields are ours
— who is Lord over us ? This power must in some way be as-
E
66 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
sailed, persistently assailed, until it is razed to the ground, until it
shall be impossible that facts, brutal facts, like those described by
Mr Wallace in his chapter on landlordism in Scotland, can ever
again happen to sully a page of our future history. It is not re-
volutionary now to argue thus, for the law has taken away from
the proprietors of 600,000 tenants of this realm the power to in-
crease their rents at pleasure, or to remove them from their hold-
ings. Had such a law been in force eighty years ago, Sellar's
name would not be the reproach it now is, and will be for genera-
tions unhappy victim of a vicious system. Had we such a law
now in Scotland, Clyth would have been spared those acts of
rapacity which are fitted to awaken in the minds of her peaceful
sons thoughts and feelings whose fruit, if unchecked, can be no-
thing but evil. We can understand and appreciate the views of men
who say boldly that, in spite of all the misery which the present
system of landlordism has let loose on individuals, it is wrong,
absolutely wrong, and unjust, for the law to curtail the rights of
the landlord over his land, and so over the human beings who
dwell upon it. That is a view which can explain itself, and give
reasons for the hope that is in it. But we cannot understand the
position of those who hold that it was right to give the tenants of
Ireland a Land Law which makes them the most independent
tenants in the world, and yet hold at the same time that a similar
Act for Scotland is not to be thought of. If by right they mean
expedient, then they in effect say — You, the sons of Erin, because
you stalk landlords, as landlords stalk deer, and with success,
shall have a Land Act, but you, sons of the Highlands, because
you respect the Decalogue, must be left, without one, to the sum-
mum jus— i.e., in the vernacular, to the tender mercy (often cruel
enough) of your Whig and Tory lords ! ! This is putting a pre-
mium on assassination.
The fixed stars and the lairds never change, said the old saw.
Astronomy shews that the fixed stars do change, and justice is at
work, and will compel the lairds to change in more ways than
one. In the meantime those who are interested in the welfare of
our Highland peasantry should not waste their energies, as they
will not, striving for the realisation of an ideally perfect system
e that of Mr Wallace, but should give the legislature no rest
until the power to evict our peasantry, and to charge them rent
LAND NATIONALISATION. 6;
on the labour of their own weary hands, shall be taken out of
the hands of the proprietor, and shall be given to some impartial
tribunal appointed by the State. We have nothing to say about
our great sheep lords — they are able to look after themselves, they
occupy the chief places of the land. Possiby the deer hunting
millionaire may do to them as they did to the crofter. " Thy
sword has made woman childless, therefore thy mother shall be
childless." We hope not however. We believe that the vulgar
display of our Winans will make the modern deer himself vulgar,
and send our gentlemen back to the old school of sporting — if
they will gratify the instinct, to learn the best rules and traditions
of their favourite amusement. Meanwhile what remains of our
peasantry must be saved — shorn as they now are of the best land,
and of the vast moorland pastures so much more valuable to them
than their arable land. Our good lairds who do not need any law
to keep them from doing harm, though they too need better laws
to help them to do good more abundantly, will not be angry at us —
and if they do we cannot help it — for striving to get a law whose
arm shall restrain the action of grasping, unsympathetic, indolent,
pleasure-loving and needy landlords.
To all who take an interest in the land question we recom-
mend a careful study of Mr Wallace's book. Apart from its
special theory, it is intensely interesting, suggestive of thought,
and instructive in many ways.
A. C. SUTHERLAND.
Q U E R I E S.
THE CHIEF OF THE MACRAES. — Could you or any of your readers kindly in-
form me who is the present chief of the Clan Macrae ?
Nellie Cadoo, Amulty, Coorg, India. FEAR-A-MHUINNTIR CINNTAILE.
REV. LACHLAN MACKENZIE OF LOCHCARRON. — Will any one kindly tell me
anything of the Rev. Lachlan Mackenzie, a famed Highland preacher, and which
branch of the Mackenzie's he belonged to ?
Kegworth. M. B.
Is THE NAME FRATER THE SAME AS FRASER ? — Can any of your readers tell me
whether " Frater " is a corruption of " Fraser ?" I have made enquiries through the
medium of English papers, but can gather no information on the subject. I shall be
glad to know whether the name, if changed from " Fraser," was done on account of
some political trouble ?
Lome Street, Chester. GEORGE FRATER.
68
THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
GAELIC ETYMOLOGIES, AND INTERESTING ANECDOTES
ABOUT GENERAL SIR ALLAN CAMERON OF ERRACHT.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
DEAR SIR,— In a little volume of mine on local history and traditions, published
not long ago, I appended a page or two of Gaelic etymologies— among others, the
etymology of Kenmore— which name occurs in Scotland, as well as in Ireland.
Kenmore— an Ceannamhor— is usually understood to be compounded of ceann, a head
or end, and mor big— the big end of Loch-Tay. But as the east end of Loch-Tay,
where Kenmore stands, does not seem to be much, if at all, the bigger end of the loch,
I bethought me of an etymology more descriptive of the locality, and found it, as it
seems to me, in ceann, and muir — simply the end of the lake ; and the same as Ceann-
loch. The common objection to this is, that muir means salt water exclusively ; and
cannot apply to a fresh water lake. But the fact is that muir and fairge do not
signify salt water exclusively. They are — if I may so call them — generic words, and
may signify, as the case may be, either salt or fresh water. For example, the trans-
lators of the Scriptures into Gaelic, render " Sea of Galilee" — a fresh water lake —
" Mftir Ghalile" So they also render Sea of Chinnereth, another name for " Sea of
Galilee" — not loch Chineret, \w\. fairge Chineret — Num. xxxiv. II. So also in I Kings
vii. 23, the laver which contained fresh water for priestly ablutions, they translate mtiir
leaghta; and the sea of glass, in Rev. xv. 2, they render fairge ghloine — and the Dead
Sea, being a salt water lake, ton. fhairgt shalainn, or salt sea.* So did the Hebrews
use the word yam, sea, as our Gaelic translators of Scripture use m&ir and fairge, in a
generic sense, to signify fresh or salt water ; and, as in Isaiah xviii. 2, to signify a river.
When, however, the ocean is meant, yam has usually the article before it, as in Gen.
xxxii. 12. So also the Greeks use the word thalassa, a sea. In Matt. iv. 18, it refers to
fresh water, and in Acts x. 6, to salt water. The Gaelic word loch may also signify
either fresh or salt water. Loch-Tay, Loch-Ness, Loch-Lomond are fresh water lochs ;
and Loch-Long, Loch-Etive, and Loch-Duich are salt water lochs.
While on etymological subjects, I may mention what I observed this autumn
when sojourning for a few days at Strathpeffer, inhaling its fresh, sweet, salubrious
air, and enjoying its bright scenery— namely, the many names of places that seem to
contain the word f ait e— watching— as Fairadie or Fodderty, the place of watching ;
Cnocfaireil, the hill of watching ; Fairburn, Fairabruin, or Fairebeinn, the mountain
of watching ; and Fyrish, from faire and innis, the place of watching. Probably
Torres or Farrais is from the same root ; as also Farr, of which there are several in
our Scotch topography. These, and many more that might be mentioned, may have
•een the Mispehs, or watch towers, of former times ; and before the days of modern
* Probably fairge— water is the root of Fairigag— the name of a river ; and also,
fairigeadh, bathing— a word, by the way, which several of our Gaelic lexicographers
>eem to have overlooked. Muir, short, means water ; and muir, long, a stronghold.
Hence Dochafuir, Trinafuir, Pitfuir, Beinafuir, and Glenfuir.
GAELIC ETYMOLOGIES. 69
telegraphy they must have served important defensive purposes. From the top of
Knockfarrel, the watchman had a far-reaching view eastwards, along the Firth of
Cromarty ; and no hostile fleet could approach without timely warning. Also, from
its summit, as well as from the heights of Fyrish, and the Fairburn Hills, there could
be seen by night the beacon fire, lighted on the heights of Ruidhe-soluis — a most
suitable, as well as necessary, defensive device against sudden invasions and surprises
in lawless and unsettled times.
I have just been re-reading the interesting biography of Sir Allan Cameron —
Ailean nan Earrachd — in the first volume of the Celtic Magazine. Let me give one or
two additional anecdotes of him, as I had them from my friend the late Rev. Alex.
Macinnes, of Tummel-Bridge and Eannoch — himself a Lochaber man, and full of
entertaining reminiscences of his native district. After his fatal and unhappy duel
with Cameron of Morshiarlich, as his biographer tells us, Sir Allan fled southwards in
haste to avoid serious consequences. Whether it so happened that he was insufficiently
shod, or that in the hurry of his flight he marred his foot gear, I do not recollect.
Anyhow, seeing a shoemaker's shop by the way, he entered, and asked him if he
thought he had a pair of shoes ready to fit him ? The shoemaker replied he thought
he had; and, looking round the walls of his workshop, he spied a pair, which he took
down, and asked the stranger to try them on. They fitted admirably, and the stranger
asked the price of them. But finding that, in the hurry of flight that morning, he had
forgotten his purse, he said to his friend, the shoemaker, that he must meantime give
him credit for the amount. This the disciple of St Crispin positively declined, alleg-
ing that they were strangers to each other, and that he must have payment on
delivery. Whereupon — for at times necessity has no law — Sir Allan ran for it, with
the shoes in his possession, and the shoemaker hard in pursuit after him, but to no
purpose, for the fugitive speedily out-distanced him, an 1 was soon beyond his reach.
Many years thereafter, a tall handsome man, in full military costume, entered the very
same shoe-shop, and saluted the shoemaker —
" Cia mar tha thu 'n diugh a Dhdmhail?"
How are you to-day, Donald ?
Donald looked up somewhat bewildered at the sudden appearance of this hand-
some apparition in military uniform, and timorously exclaimed —
" Ma tk le bhur cead, cha 'n eil mise ga 'r n-aithneachadh."
With your leave, sir, I do not recognise you.
" Nach eil cuimhn' agad a Dhomhail, air an fhear a thainig le cabhaig 'o cliioun
a leithid so do bhliadhnaichean — a dh' fhiach air, paidhir de do chuid brog; agus
a thug a chasan as leo, gun do phaigheadh. Nach eil cuimhn' agad air sin, agus cho
astarach 'sa chaidh thu air a th6ir?"
Do you not remember, Donald, the man that many years ago came in haste to
this very shop, tried on a pair of your shoes, ran off without paying you for them? Do
you not remember that, and how vigorously you pursued him?
" Ma ta gu dearbh," arsa D6mhal, " 's maith sin 'tha cuimhn' agam air; agus 's mi
a dh'fhaodadh, oir thug mi builg air buinn mo chasan an latha sin, nach do leighis gu
ceann mios as a dheighe."
Indeed I do very well, replied Donald; and well I may, for that day I so blistered
the soles of my feet that they did not recover it for a month after.
It appears Sir Allan was at the time this visit took place in that district recruiting
for his regiment. Aware of this, it began to dawn upon the poor shoemaker who his
frank and friendly visitor might possibly be, and looking up at him enquiringly, but
;o THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
respectfully, he said— "An e sibhse Ailean nan Earrachd?" "Are you Allan of
Earrachd ?"— the name by which he was familiarly known among the common people.
To which Sir Allan replied— " Ma ta tha mi 'n duil, gu 'r e sin is trice their iad
rium aim an Lochaber co dhiu."
I rather think that is the name by which I am best known in Lochaber, anyhow.
The price of the shoes was paid down with interest, which Sir Allan insisted, on
pain of displeasure, the reluctant shoemaker should accept ; and more than this, the
shoemaker himself was enlisted into his regiment— eventually became regimental shoe-
maker, and as such, we believe, lived to realise a handsome competency.
As his biographer narrates, Sir Allan fell deeply in love with Miss Philip — his
future wife — and hopeless of getting her father's consent to their marriage, eloped
with her. It appears his first acquaintance with her began in the house of a mutual
friend; and Mr Philip, having from the first discountenanced the proposed union, saw
but little of Sir Allan in those earlier years ; and after the lapse of time he seems
to have lost all recollection of what his appearance was. It is only on this supposition
that we can explain the incident we are about to narrate. So it was that he and his father-
in-law sat side by side on this occasion at the same festive board — Mr Philip quite un-
conscious that the handsome officer next him was his own son-in-law. The conversation
naturally enough took a military turn, and Sir Allan was as entertaining and charming
socially as he was brave on the battlefield. Mr Philip was quite taken with him, and
dinner over, he took occasion to ask the name of the entertaining officer who sat on his
left — complimenting him on his fine physique, his gentlemanly manners, and powers of
conversation. It so happened the question was addressed to a Highland officer who
knew them both — as well as the past estrangement between Philip and his friend of
Earracht. "Yes!" he replied jocularly, in allusion thereto, "you see, Mr Philip,
there are gentlemen as well as soldiers among us Scotch Highlanders, although you
don't seem to think so ; and I opine, that of such a Highlander as you had by you
this evening, you have no cause to be ashamed were he your son-in-law." " Nor
would I," was the reply, " had I such a son-in-law." " Well," responded the other,
"that is your son-in-law you have been now conversing with— one of the most dis-
tinguished officers in the British army." The effect of this reply our readers may
fancy. Suffice it to say, that in due time Sir Allan was received into favour, and
ever after the two were knit together as father and son.
Can you inform me whether Mrs Grant of Carron's song of " Roy's wife" was
originally composed in English or Gaelic? There is a Perthshire local tradition that
the Roy of this song was village innkeeper at Aldevalloch, near Kenmore; and that his
wife having disappointed a northern lover— a drover by profession— this drover com-
posed in Gaelic the song which suggested Mrs Grant's English lyric. I am aware that
Chambers, in his "Songs of Scotland before Burns," says the incident which occa-
sioned it happened in the Highlands of Aberdeenshire. But a Perthshire correspondent,
with whom I communicated, says- "I distinctly remember, when a boy, my father
and grandmother talk of the old song of ' Roy's wife,' as referring to a John Roy
about Taymouth, whose very handsome wife had jilted the author of the song." The
following are some verses of the Gaelic version of this song, and I leave you to judge
whether they bear any resemblance to Mrs Grant's performance:—
Bha mi latha tighin' mu thuath,
N deigh buair a reic 'sa Cheannach,
Sud an latha 'rinn mu Ie6n—
N uair Ihcaruinn mi an c6ir Bhraigh-Bhealaich,
THE CELTIC MEDICAL COLLEGE. 71
Bean Iain Ruaidh bha 'n Alt-a-bhealaich,
Bean Iain Ruaidh bha 'n Alt-a-bhealaich,
'N cualadh sibh mar mheall i mi —
'N uair thearuinn mi mu thir Bhraigh-Bhealaich.
Thug i geallaidhean gu leor,
Gu'r mise m' 6nar bh'aic mar leannan.
Ach dar thionndaidh mi mo chul,
'S ann thug i suil air Iain a Bhealaich.
Bha 'gruaidh mar r6s 'sa mhaduinn Mhaigh,
'Sa slios cho gheal ri c!6imh a chanaich.
Gnuis bhanail, mhklda, bhoidheach, re"idh,
O sud an t6 a rinn mo mhealladh.
Bidh' mi muladach ri m' bhed,
'S mi air mo lednadh leis an ainnir.
Ach mo bheannachd tha gu brath
Do 'n nighean bhan a bha 'm Braigh-Bhealaich.
" Bean Iain Ruaidh, &c., &c.
October 1882. ALLAN SINCLAIR.
THE CELTIC MEDICAL COLLEGE.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
SIR, — It is a well-known fact that in the palmy days of the Lord of the Isles, the
art of medicine was highly cultivated in the College of the Ollamhs of Skye, and
practised on scientific principles, when at the other seats of learning and capitals of
Europe it was left to superstitious charlatans and barbers. It is to be regretted that
their learned treatises are now, it is to be feared, irrecoverably lost. My object in
writing is to bring under your notice a Gaelic MS., belonging to the Skye College of
Physicians, at one time belonging to the Macleods of Skye, now in the Advocate's
Library, Edinburgh. It is a Gaelic translation of six books of the classic Latin writ-
ings of one of the ancient Fathers of Medicine, Celsus Celsus de Medicina. I am
aware that Gaelic medical terms are lost to the philologist. Neither in any of
the Gaelic dictionaries, nor in any other printed work, are they to be found. It is
strange that the Gaelic names and anatomy of the body is better known among women
than to men. Now that there is in Edinburgh a Celtic Chair, and Doctors of medi-
cine in Edinburgh anxious to show their knowledge of the tongue used —
" When Adam delved and Eve span."
Could they do better than give the world these books, with a treatise in Gaelic bring-
ing the subjects treated of up to the present state of knowledge? — Yours, &c.,
SGEULAICHE,
THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
THE BRAES CROFTERS AND LORD MACDONALD.
A MUNIFICENT OFFER.
THE following correspondence needs no comment, but we think it worthy of preserva-
tion in these pages. On the 28th of October the Editor of the Celtic Magazine received
the subjoined telegram :—
" To Alexander Mackenzie, Esq., Dean of Guild of Inverness, from
Malcolm Mackenzie, Vue du Lac, Guernsey.
"Tender by telegraph to Lord Macdonald's agent all arrears of rent due by Braes
crofters, and to stay proceedings. I write by post and send securities for one thou-
sand pounds on Monday."
These instructions were carried out, and the following reply was received in due
course : —
"5 Thistle Street, Edinburgh, 3Oth Oct. 1882.
" Sir,— We have received your telegram of to-day stating that you are authorised
by a Mr Malcolm Mackenzie, Guernsey, to tender payment of the last two years'
arrears of rent due to Lord Macdonald by the Braes crofters, on condition that all
proceedings against them are stopped, and that you will be prepared to deposit
securities for one thousand pounds to-morrow.
"Although we know nothing of the gentleman you mention, we will communi-
cate your telegram to Lord Macdonald. At the same time, we must observe,' that
you seem to be labouring under a misapprehension as to the matter at issue between
his lordship and the crofters, the proceedings against whom were raised for the pur-
pose of preventing trespass, and not for recovering arrears of rent. — We are, &c.,
(Signed) " JOHN C. BRODIE & SONS.
" To Dean of Guild Mackenzie, Celtic Magazine Office, Inverness."
To the above letter the Editor replied as follows :—
" Celtic Magazine Office, Inverness, November I, 1882.
"Sirs, — I am in receipt of your favour of Monday acknowledging my telegram
on behalf of Malcolm Mackenzie, Esq., Guernsey, offering to pay arrears of Braes
crofters on terms stated therein.
" I was fully aware of the nature of the proceedings against the crofters, though
possibly Mr Mackenzie was not, and I simply carried out my instructions. I, how-
ever, think if Lord Macdonald desires to settle amicably with the people that this
proposal, if it does nothing else, will give him an opportunity of doing so without any
sacrifice of his position beyond showing a willingness to discuss the matter with the
view to settle it in a way that will extricate all parties from a difficult position.
1 Mr Mackenzie has now, through me, deposited securities amounting to over
£1000 in the bank here, and I shall be glad to hear from you when you shall have
heard from his lordship.— I am, Sirs, your obedient servant,
" A. MACKENZIE.
Messrs John C. Brodie & Sons, W.S."
THE BRAES CROFTERS. 73
The Editor, on seeing Messrs Brodie's letter to him in the Inverness Courier of
2nd November, wrote another letter to the Messrs Brodie, in the course of which he
said : — " Referring to the second paragraph of my letter of yesterday, permit me to
express my opinion that a favourable opportunity has now arrived to compromise the
question in dispute advantageously to both parties, and if I can in any way aid in that
object, nothing will give me greater satisfaction. I have had no communication either
direct or indirect with the Braes people since the recent trial, except the telegram
which has appeared in the papers ; but if a desire is expressed for an amicable arrange-
ment, I shall be glad to visit them and do what I can to bring such about. I believe
if a proposal were made to appoint an independent valuator connected with the West,
and one in whom the people might fairly place confidence as to his knowledge of the
country and the climate, the question might be settled in a few days. This valuator
should value the crofts and Ben-Lee together, and name one sum for the whole.
Though I have no authority for making this proposal, I believe it could be carried out
to the satisfaction of all concerned, and it would extricate the authorities and Lord
Macdonald from a most unenviable position."
To these letters no reply has been received.
Mr Malcolm Mackenzie followed up his telegram of 28th October with the fol-
lowing letter, addressed to the Editor of the Celtic Magazine. It was at once pub-
lished in almost every newspaper in Scotland :—
"A. Mackenzie, Esq., Dean of Guild, Inverness.
"Dear Sir,— On reading in the Inverness Courier an account of the proceedings
of Tuesday last against the Braes crofters, I thought that something might be done to
take everybody out of a difficulty, and wired you the following message : — ' Tender by
telegraph to Lord Macdonald's agent all arrears of rent due by Braes crofters, and to
stay proceedings. I write by post, and send securities for one thousand pounds on
Monday.'
' ' It appears to me to have now become the duty of every loyal Highlander to
contribute towards the preservation of order. A fund for that piirpose should be
opened, and you will please put me down for ten pounds. As you may not be in
funds, I send the thousand pounds on the security of being indemnified by High-
landers, trusting entirely to their own sense of duty.
" I trust that Lord Macdonald will be advised to accept payment of arrears, and
to leave the people -of the Braes in peace until the Government of the country can
overtake measures to judge between him and them. It will be a heavy responsibility
and a disgrace to call soldiers to Skye at the present time. Her Majesty has more
important work to do with her soldiers than to place them at the service of the Court
of Session in vindication of an unconstitutional law which is not based on principles
of justice, and which has, by the progress of events and the evolution of time, become
inoperative.
" The Court of Session looks for precedents. Where are there precedents for
the reign of Queen Victoria? You can telegraph for a cargo of refrigerated meat to
the Antipodes, and obtain it by steam.
" The prairies of America are brought into competition with Ben-Lee. The
Courts, and even the human mind, have been under the domination of the dismal
theories of Malthus and Ricardo. Why did they not give heed to the sound teach-
ings of Dr Smith and Dr Chalmers, the great apostles of freedom ?
" Our dual system is no longer possible. Lord Macdonald does not know what
74 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
to do. Nobody knows what to do. There is an absence of law and justice. Lord
Macdonald may be a just and benevolent man— at least I hope he is ; his factor may be
a just and benevolent man ; and from the conduct of the ground-officer, he appears to
be a judicious man.
" In Scotland the administrator of justice is the robber who deprives the people
of their natural and indefeasible right to the soil and of the labour which they have
incorporated with it. Is that not a terrible contingency for any country to be in ? It
is peculiarly disgraceful that it should be so in respect of the Highland race, who suc-
cessfully defended their country, their lands, and liberties, against Romans and Nor-
mans. What have we come to ? Are they going to send for the Highland Brigade
from Egypt to slaughter the people of Skye ?
"We call for Mr Gladstone. What can poor Mr Gladstone do, with time
against him, society in a state of revolt, a demoralised House of Commons, a recal-
citrant House of Lords, and the Court of Session at its wit's ends ? Let us pray that
he may be able to act as a governor on this rickety steam-engine of society which,
under high pressure, and by reason of great friction, is in danger of tearing itself to
pieces. In the meantime, and until the machine is put in some sort of order, by Rules
of Procedure and alteration of the law, it is every man's duty to keep her Majesty's
peace and prevent bloodshed ; and as you appear to me, sir, to be doing yours, like a
good Seaforth Highlander, or Ross-shire Buff, allow me to subscribe myself, very
faithfully and loyally yours,
(Signed) " MAL. MACKENZIE.
" Guernsey, 24th October 1882."
The following letters explain themselves : —
TO THE EDITOR OF THE INVERNESS COURIER.
Celtic Magazine Office, 2 Ness Bank, Inverness, 8th Nov. 1882.
Sir,— I have just received the enclosed letter from Mr Malcolm Mackenzie,
Guernsey. Please publish it in the Courier, as you have already published the reply
to my telegram from Lord Macdonald's agents.
Permit me, at the same time, to state that the sum of ;£iooo, in actual cash, has
now been placed by Mr Mackenzie at my disposal in the Caledonian Bank, and, in
the event of his offer being entertained by Lord Macdonald, that I shall be ready at
any moment to implement Mr Mackenzie's offer. — I am, &c.,
ALEXANDER MACKENZIE.
"Guernsey, 4th November, 1882.
"Alexander Mackenzie, Esq., Dean of Guild, Inverness.
1 Dear Sir,— I am in receipt of your letter of the 1st, enclosing the reply of
Lord Macdonald's solicitors to your telegram tendering them payment of two years'
rent due by the Braes crofters.
" From Lord Macdonald's dignified position, he might be thought entitled to ask
for an introduction before accepting any assistance on behalf of his tenants ; but
ting as I was, on the spur of the moment, to prevent bloodshed, and possibly to avert
* civil war, I did not think that in these hard-money days his solicitors would
use any objections on the ground of my being unknown to them, especially as I made
Dean of Guild of Inverness the medium of my communication
J days of chivalry are gone, and as clan ties and feelings of patriotism and
THE BRAES CROFTERS. 75
humanity are no longer of binding obligation, I could not imagine that a firm of soli-
citors would stand on so much ceremony.
" Whatever misapprehension Lord Macdonald's advisers are labouring under,
I can assure them that I am labouring under none as to the real issues between
him and his crofters. It would, doubtless, suit them to have the case tried on
a false issue of trespass before a Court which must be bound by former deci-
sions and prevailing canons as to the rights of Highland landlords. The plea
of the poor people is that Lord Macdonald is the trespasser, in depriving them of
their mountain grazings, without consent or compensation, and thereby reducing them
to abject poverty. What can they do ? It would raise the whole question of consti-
tutional right, and, as I have said, the Court is bound by former decisions that the
landlord has the right to resume possession, and to evict and banish the peasantry
after having first reduced them to the last nettle of subsistence. A sentence of ban-
ishment used to be regarded as a punishment only next to death, but in the phraseo-
logy of landlords it is now an ' improvement.'
"In the days of 'bloody' George of our own ilk, the Court of Session knew
better how to apply the ' boot' and the thumb screw than constitutional law. Even
later, such ruffians as old Braxfield recognised no right in the people, and ac-
cording to their dog Latin they found that the landlord was the only person who
had a persona standi. It might, indeed, be an interesting question for more en-
lightened and better men to discuss whether the Crown of Scotland conferred on the
chieftains by their charters the right of wholesale clearances and forcible banishment
of the people from their native country ; and when their military service was commuted
into rent charges if it extended to the landlord the right to make it so oppressive that
they could not live without appealing to the public bounty for charity. But I fear it
is now too late to expect the High Court of Scotland to remedy the evil, and that we
must look to some other Court for redress.
" It is in the hope that such a Court of equity may be established for Scotland as
regards land and the well-being of the people that I ventured to offer my assistance,
and I thought that Lord Macdonald and his advisers would be glad to make it the
means of getting out of a difficulty, and quashing a case that has become a public
scandal, instead of standing on ceremony. — I am, sir, faithfully yours,
(Signed) "MAL. MACKENZIE."
MEMORIAL TO THE LATE REV. ALEXANDER MACGREGOR, M.A.
— We are glad that a movement has been set on foot to erect a memorial to the Rev.
Alex. Macgregor, so well known to the readers of this magazine ; and we trust that
the proposal will prove as successful as it deserves. No better Highlander ever
existed than Mr Macgregor, and we feel sure that our readers will not forget what all
Highlanders owe to his memory. The Committee state that " the memorial is to take,
in the first instance, the form of a mural tablet to be erected in the West Church, and
the surplus funds, if any, will be devoted to some permanent public object to be deter-
mined upon by the Committee and the subscribers." Subscriptions may be intimated
to Colonel Stuart, Millburn, Inverness, or to us.
;6 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
ACHALUACHRACH'S BRIDAL.
IT was the betrothal night of the tacksman of Achaluachrach ;
the ceremony was over, the party dispersed, he and his young
bride were taking a moonlight stroll, talking of the happy future
which lay before them. Achaluachrach was in high spirits, bul
his gentle companion was quiet, subdued, almost sad. Her lover
rallied her on the depression she evidently laboured under, and
laughingly asked if she already repented of her bargain.
" No," replied the young girl, as she raised her tearful eyes
to her lover's face, and clung closer to his side, " No, I do not re-
pent ; but I fear much our marriage will never take place. I have
had fearful dreams lately, ; this evening when we were con-
tracted, I seemed to see a white cloud coming between us, and as
I looked, it took the shape of a shroud, and since we came out,
twice have I heard the croak of the raven. Ah ! listen, there it is
again !" she cried, trembling violently, as the ill omened bird
flew past them.
Achaluachrach did his best to drive these gloomy fancies
from the mind of his beloved, laughed at her fears, calling her a
silly, nervous lassie, and continued, " you must cheer up, and get
rid of these foolish fancies, for I shall not be able to see you for
the next day or two, as I start at daybreak to-morrow with a few
chosen lads, to make a raid on old Rose of Kilravock, in
Nairnshire, whose fine fat cattle will furnish a grand marriage
feast for us."
" Oh ! Duncan," ejaculated the young girl earnestly, " don't
go. There will be plenty for our marriage without you running
this risk. My mind sadly misgives me ; you will either be killed
or wounded. For my sake give up this scheme, and stay at
home."
But all her entreaties were in vain; her lover was not to be
lightly turned from his purpose. He told her not to fear, for there
was no danger. Kilravock was old, frail, and lame, and would not
be likely to follow them.
The lovers took an affectionate farewell of each other,
ACHALUACHRACH'S BRIDAL. 77
as they were in sight of the bride's home, which lay on the other
side of a burn, spanned by a simple rude bridge, formed of
felled trees thrown across. She had just reached the middle of
this rustic structure when Achaluachrach turned back, and sprang
lightly on the bridge to catch another embrace, and whisper a
last loving word. He was gone again before his bride had time
to speak ; but when she recollected where she was standing, she
wrung her hands, and cried aloud, " Alas ! alas ! ! my fears will be
too true, for ' those who part on a brig will never meet again,'
oh why did he turn back," said the sobbing girl as she hurried
home in deep distress.
The next day Achaluachrach and his friends made the pro-
mised raid on Kilravock, secured a rich creach> and started home-
ward in triumph. They reached Strathdearn without molesta-
tion, and rested for the night at a place called Bro'-clach, where
there was good pasturage for the tired cattle. The reivers, feel-
ing quite secure, determined to enjoy themselves, so, taking pos-
session of a bothy, they killed one of the primest bullocks, and
made a grand feast. So confident were they, that they neglected
to take the usual precautions against a surprise, and merely
placed a young lad to watch outside, and to keep the cattle from
straying, while all the rest ate, drank, and sang inside the bothy.
They, however, " reckoned without their host," for Kilravock, al-
though both old and lame, was too high-spirited to be thus har-
ried with impunity, so, hastily gathering his men, he followed in
pursuit. On his way he was joined by men from the districts
through which he passed, so that by the time he caught sight of
his stolen property, he found himself at the head of a numerous
and determined band, among whom was a noted character, John
Macandrew of Dalnahaitnich, celebrated for his skill with the
bow and arrow. He was a very small man, not more than five
feet high, and, as he had no beard, looked more like a boy than a
man of mature years. He was, however, very strong, courageous,
and quick-witted, and much liked by his neighbours, who called
him Ian Beag Macanndra.
The lad who had to watch the cattle was tired with his long
day's travelling, and was soon sound asleep. Thus, Kilravock
and his party were able, favoured by the darkness, to creep up
and surround the bothy, a shower of arrows being the first inti-
78 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
mation the reivers had of their being pursued. Their first im-
pulse was to rush to the door; but as soon as one showed him-
self he was struck down. Seeing they could not get out, they
made the best stand they could by shooting their arrows at the
besiegers ; but here again they were at a disadvantage, for the
night being so dark they could not distinguish their opponents
enough to take aim, while the light inside the bothy allowed Kil-
ravock's men to see the reivers plainly.
Ian Beag soon picked out Achaluachrach as the leader, from
the superior style of his dress, and, taking aim, he let fly an arrow
with such precision that it passed through the tacksman's body
and pinned him against the wall, killing him instantaneously.
On seeing this fresh proof of the little man's skill, a comrade
called out triumphantly, " Dia is buaidh leat Ian Mhic Anndra,
'tha thamh an Dalnahaitnich" — God and victory be with you,
John Macandrew, that dwells in Dalnahaitnich. Annoyed at
thus having his name and place of abode made known to the
enemy, who, he knew well, would try to be revenged upon him,
Macandrew retaliated by screaming out in his shrill voice—
" Mile mollachd air do theang', Ian Chaim Choilachi"— A thou-
sand curses on your tongue, Gleyed John of Kyllachy.
While the death of Achaluachrach disheartened his followers,
it roused Kilravock's men to renewed exertions, so that not a
single man in the bothy escaped. When they were all dead, the
besiegers set fire to the frail building, which in a few minutes
formed a funeral pile over the slain. The only one that escaped
was the young lad who proved such a faithless sentinel. Fa-
voured by the darkness of the night, he hid himself, witnessed
the sad affray, heard all that was said, and then made his escape
to carry the ill news to the sorrowing bride and her friends.
We cannot say whether " Gleyed John of Kyllachy" was
visited with any retaliation for the share he had taken in this
night's work; but we will tell what befel our diminutive hero,
Ian Beag Macanndra. He was sharp enough to suspect that,'
through the ill-advised praise of his indiscreet companion, his
name would get known to the friends of the slain enemy, and
that he would be exposed to the full measure of their revenge- he
accordingly took measures for his safety.
Outside his house, near the door, stood a very large and full fir
ACHALUACHRACH'S BRIDAL. 79
tree, amid the top branches of which he constructed a hiding place
for himself, and carried up a good store of arrows. To this refuge
he used to repair every night to prevent his being taken by surprise.
During the day he trusted to his vigilance and sharp wits to keep
out of danger. One day when Ian Beag was at some distance
from the house, he was overtaken by a party of men whom he at
once knew to be strangers, and guessed what their errand was.
This was fully confirmed when they asked him if he knew one
John Macandrew of Dalnahaitnich. On his answering in the
affirmative, and saying that he was Macandrew's herd, they asked
him to guide them to the house, and they would pay him for his
trouble. To this Ian agreed without hesitation, pocketed the
coin, and led the way to his own house. On reaching the door
he called out to his wife, telling her that some strangers were
wanting the master, and asking if he were within. The guidwife
took her cue at once, and without exhibiting any signs of alarm,
said her husband was not in the house just then, but would pro-
bably soon be, and she asked the strangers to come in and rest.
Then to gain time, and enable her husband to carry out some
scheme of escape, she bustled about to set provisions before the
strangers, to which they did good justice. While this was going
on, Ian Beag stood thoughtfully by the fire holding his trusty
bow in his hand ; and while turning over in his mind what course
to pursue, he kept unconsciously bending the large bow, nearly
as big as himself, and apparently far beyond his physical powers.
His wife glanced anxiously at him, and fearing the fact of his
bending the bow might be observed by the strangers and excite
their suspicions, she stepped quickly up to him and gave him a
sounding box on the ear, telling him in an angry tone not to idle
there, but to go and look for his master. Ian, thus rudely roused
from his reverie, sneaked out of the house with a crestfallen air,
still carrying the bow in his hand. No sooner had he got out-
side than he climbed into his hiding place in the tree, fitted an
arrow to his bow, and called out that his master was coming.
Hearing this, the strangers hurried to the door, and, as they
emerged one by one, Ian shot them down with his unfailing
arrows. Thus poor Achaluachrach's avengers shared the same
fate as himself. His fair, unwedded bride was overwhelmed with
grief at thus finding her worst fears so fatally realised. She
8o THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
relieved her overburdened spirit by composing a long pathetic
Gaelic ballad, in which she related all the dreadful incidents of
the fray and bewailed her own blasted prospects.
M. A. ROSE.
DEATH OF LEWIS ROSS, A NATIVE OF TAIN, IN CANADA.
ON the 20th of -September last, this gentleman died at Port Hope, Upper Canada,
where he was resident for the last thirty years. Though in poor circumstances on his
arrival, he, as the Port Hope Times informs us, " by dint of indomitable perseverance
and honest dealing built up a business that surpassed all competitors, and he amassed
quite a competence. He has occupied nearly every elective position that it was in the
hands of the people to bestow."
Previous to 1872, he had been President of the East Durham Reform Association,
and was the chosen candidate to contest the Riding in the Reform, or Liberal, interest
at the general election of that year. He proved the successful candidate over the
Conservative nominee by a large majority, and took his seat in Parliament at Ottawa.
On the resignation of the Government of Sir John A. Macdonald, shortly after that
contest, he again contested the Riding, and once more secured his election by an in-
creased majority. He was an unflinching supporter of the Hon. Alex. Mackenzie's
Government. In 1878, he was for the third time the Reform nominee, but was de-
feated. He also contested at the General Election in June last.
Mr Ross has been a member of the Public School Board and Board of Harbour
Commissioners for a great number of years, and at the time of his death held the posi-
tion of Chairman of both these bodies. He manifested great interest in the affairs
of the town, especially in its educational institutions. He was for many years a
member of the Board of Directors of the Midland Railway, and has also filled the
position of Acting President during the absence of Mr Cox, the President. Mr Ross
was an uncompromising advocate of the Midland Railway, and lent every effort in
upholding the management of that road. In the years of adversity of that
Railway, he has more than once come forward and given his name for thousands of
dollars to enable the Company to pay their employes' wages and keep the road
working. During his Parliamentary career, from 1872 to 1878, he rendered acknow-
ledged services to the town, and his presence in municipal affairs will be greatly
missed. Mr Ross was for many years a communicant and a steadfast member of the
Presbyterian Church. For his personal worth, he was held in the highest esteem, and
no one in the county was better known. He was friendly with all, whether rich or
poor, and there is none in the section, no matter how much he may have been op-
posed to the deceased politically, but will say a kind word of him, and deeply lament
his sudden demise. He was a native of the parish of Fearn, in Ross-shire, where he
was born in 1825. In 1852, he married a daughter of John S, Clute, Esq., Collector
of Customs at Picton, Ont., by whom he leaves eight children— three girls and five
boys.
These few particulars are extracted from a newspaper that opposed Mr Ross in
his whole political career, as Canadian papers only can oppose.
Si
THE HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS.
By the EDITOR.
II.
IX. — ALLAN CAMERON, commonly known among his coun-
trymen as " Allan MacOchtery," which some of our historians have
rendered " Allan MacUchtred." This does not, however, appear
to have any meaning, for no such name as Uchtred turns up
before or after, so far as we can find, in the whole genealogy
of the clan. A much more likely origin of the name may-
be found in the ingenious suggestion that it means Allan
"MacOchdamh Triath," or Allan son of the Eighth Chief.
If we adopt the family genealogy, as given in the " Memoirs,"
where two Johns are given in succession immediately before
this Allan, such a designation of him would be strictly accur-
ate. Its value and probability will at once become apparent to
those who understand the Gaelic language, and it certainly does
support the genealogy which gives two chiefs of the name John ;
though without sufficient consideration, perhaps, we have dropped
one of them in our last* Allan's reign was of a most turbulent
character. In his time began the feuds between the clan and the
Mackintoshes, which have continued more or less inveterate for
many generations after, and were only finally determined towards
the end of the seventeenth century.
There are various versions current, all traditional, of the ori-
gin of the long-continued and bitter feuds between these two
powerful families, and one of them has already appeared in the
Celtic Magazine \ vol. v. pp. 284-86, contributed by the late Patrick
Macgregor, M.A., Toronto, a native of Badenoch, well acquainted
with the folk-lore of the district. Many other versions are more
or less known, but the following is the most recent, and probably
the most accurate. By the marriage of Eva, only child of Dougal
Dall MacGilleCattan, chief of the ancient Clan Chattan, to Angus,
* John, Allan's father, was erroneously called "John Mac Ochtery" in the Novem-
ber issue. In the "Memoirs" he is styled "John Ochtery," or, according to the
suggestion in the text, John Ochdamh Triath.
E
82 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
sixth chief of Mackintosh, in 1291, when he obtained with her, if
not the headship of the clan (a question still hotly disputed), at
least the lands of her father, comprising those of Glenlui and
Loch Arkaig, in Lochaber. The Mackintoshes, however, do not
appear to have possessed these lands at this period for any length
of time, for Angus, who is said to have lived in Glenlui with
his wife for a few years after his marriage, is soon an exile from
his home, he having had to flee, from the Lord of Isla, to Bade-
noch. The lands thus becoming vacant were occupied by the
Camerons (or the clan afterwards known as the Camerons), who
continued in them for some years without disturbance. William
Mackintosh, the son of Angus and Eva, on attaining his majority,
demanded the lands in question, and, according to one of the
Mackintosh MSS., obtained, in 1337, from John of Isla, a right
to the lands of Glenlui and Loch Arkaig. This right being
disputed by the Camerons, Mackintosh appealed to the sword,
and a great battle was fought at Drumlui, in which the
Mackintoshes defeated the Camerons under Donald Alin Mhic
Evin Mhic Evin. This engagement was followed by others,
each clan alternately carrying the war into his opponent's country,
harrying each other's lands and lifting cattle, until we finally
arrive at the famous battle of Invernahavon, referred to by Mr
Mackintosh-Shaw as follows : — In 1370, according to the Mack-
intosh MSS. — or, as others have it, sixteen years later — the
Camerons, to the number of about four hundred, made a raid
into Badenoch, and were returning home with the booty they
had acquired when they were overtaken at Invernahavon by a
body of the Clan Chattan led by Mackintosh in person. Although
outnumbering their opponents, the Clan Chattan well nigh ex-
perienced a signal defeat in the engagement which took place,
owing to a dispute such as that which in after years contributed
largely to the disaster at Culloden — a dispute as to precedence.
Mackintosh was accompanied by Macpherson, head of the Clan
Mhuirich and MacDhaibhidh or Davidson of Invernahavon, with
their respective septs ; and between these two chieftains a differ-
ence arose as to which of them should have the command of the
right wing, the post of honour. It is said that Macpherson
claimed it as being the male representative of the old chiefs of the
clan, while Davidson contended that, by the custom of the clans,
HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS. 83
the honour should be his, as being the oldest cadet, the repre-
sentative of the oldest surviving branch. Taking the literal appli-
cation of the custom, Davidson's claim was perhaps justifiable ;
but the case was peculiar, inasmuch as Macpherson, his senior
in the clan, did not hold the actual position of chief. As neither
party would give way, the dispute was referred to Mackintosh,
who decided in favour of Davidson, thus unfortunately offending
the Clan Mhuirich, who withdrew in disgust By awarding the
command to either chieftain, Mackintosh would doubtless have
given offence to the other; but his decision against the claims of
Macpherson, besides being somewhat unjust, was highly imprudent,
as the Macphersons were more numerous than the Mackintoshes
and the Davidsons together, and without them Mackintosh's force
was inferior to that of the Camerons. The battle resulted in the
total defeat of the Mackintoshes and Davidsons, the latter being
almost entirely cut off But the honour of Clan Chattan was re-
deemed by the Macphersons, who, generously forgetting for the
time the slight that had been put upon them, and, remembering
only that those who had offended them were their brother-clans-
men and in distress, attacked the Camerons with such vigour
that they soon changed their victory into defeat and put them
to flight. The fugitives are said to have taken their flight towards
Drumouchter, skirting the end of Loch-Ericht, and then turning
westwards in the direction of the River Treig. According to the
Rev. L. Shaw, the leader of the Camerons was Charles MacGilony,
who was killed ; but this is contrary to the tradition of the local-
ity, which states that " MacDhomhnuil Duibh," the chief, com-
manded in person.* Charles MacGilony however, figures pro-
minently in this tradition as an important man among the
Camerons, and a famous archer. •(•
The author of " The Memoirs of Locheill" gives the Mack-
intosh version of the battle. He, however, questions their title to
the disputed lands in Lochaber, but says that the Camerons
considered their title so good that they fought for it "from
generation to generation almost to the utter mine of both familys."
*Domhnull Dubh, and necessarily his son, was not born for years after the
date of this battle.
tHistory of Clan Chattan.
84 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
He then proceeds : — " If the Camerons had any other right to the
estate in question but simple possession, I know not. All I can
say of the matter is, that very few, especially in these parts, could
allege a better at that time. The Mackintoshes, however, pretend
that, besides the story of the marriage, they had a charter or
patent to those lands from the Lord of the Isles in Anno 1337,
and that it was confirmed by King David II. in February 1359.
But the Camerons, it would seem, had little regard to these rights;
for, in 1370, they invaded the Mackintoshes, and having carried
away a great booty of cattle, and such other goods as fell in their
way, they were pursued and overtaken at a place called Inver-
nahavon, by Lachlan, then Laird of Macintosh, who was routed,
and who had a whole branch of his clan called the Clan Day cutt
off to a man. That unhappy tribe payed dear for the honour
they had in being preferred that day to the van of the battle, in
opposition to the Macphersons, that claimed it, and so far resented
the injury which they thought was done them, that they would
not ingadge att all. But Macintosh, having something of a
poetical geneius, composed certain ridiculous rhymes, which he
gave out were made in derision of their [the Macpherson's] .
cowardice by the Camerons, and thereby irrited them to such a
degree of furry against them, that they returned next morning,
attacked and defeated them, while they were burryed in sleep
and security after their late victory."*
* This version of the cause that roused the Macphersons to action is given in
extenso in Ctiairtear nan Gleann, vol. III., p. 331. Donald Mackintosh, in his "Col-
lection of Gaelic Proverbs," published in 1785, explaining one of the well-known
proverbs to which the combat on the Inch of Perth gave rise, says : —
Mackintosh, being irritated and disappointed by this behaviour of the Macpher-
sons, on the night following, sent his own bard to the camp of the Macphersons, as if
he had come from the Camerons to provoke them to fight, which he accomplished by
repeating the following satirical lines : —
Tha luchd na foille air an torn,
Is am Balg-Shuileach donn na dhraip ;
Cha b' e bhur cairdeas ruinn a bh'ann
Ach bhur lamh a bhi tais.
i.e.— The false party are on the field, beholding the chief in danger ; it was not your
love to us that made you abstain from fighting, but merely your own cowardice.
This reproach so stung Macpherson that, calling up his men, he attacked th<T
amerons that same night in their camp, and made a dreadful slaughter of them,
pursued them to the foot of Binn-imhais, and killed their chief, Charles Macgilony, at
a place called Coire Thearlaich, »>., Charles's Valley.
HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS. 85
This sanguinary conflict must have made a deep impression
on those engaged in it, and it may fairly be assumed, when the
state of society at that remote period is taken into account, that
the old enmity and the feuds between the Camerons and the
Mackintoshes would be largely intensified, and become the cause
of great slaughter, plunder, and annoyance throughout a consider-
able portion of the Central and Western Highlands. This state
of things naturally led up to the famous combat on the Inch at
Perth, where we have little difficulty now in concluding that the
Camerons and the Mackintoshes were the contending parties.*
Allan married a daughter of Drummond of Stobhall, ances-
tor of the Earls of Perth and Melfort, and by her had two sons —
1. Ewen, who succeeded his father.
2. Donald, who succeeded his brother Ewen, and was after-
wards known as the famous Donald Dubh.
Allan is said to have died in the reign of Robert III. (1390
1406), when he was succeeded by his eldest son,
X. — EWEN CAMERON, in whose time was fought the famous
combat on the Inch of Perth, between thirty picked warriors of his
own clan and thirty of the Clan Mackintosh. The author of the
" Memoirs" distinctly states, in a footnote to his sketch of Allan
MacOchtery, referring to the combat, that " this duel happened
in the time of Ewen his (Allan's) son, though misplaced by mis-
take" by himself. All that could be written of this sanguinary en-
gagement is already so well known that little need be said here re-
garding it, but we may give the Cameron version of it as it appears
in the family Memoirs. Referring to the conflict at Invernahavon,
which had in the end proved so disastrous to his clansmen, the
author says : — The Camerons did not long delay to avenge
themselves on their enemies, and, in a word, their conflicts were
so frequent, and at the same time so fierce and bloody, that they
made no small noise at Court. For the parties, besides their own
strength, had many friends and allies that joined ; so that they
often brought considerable armies to the field.
Robert the Third then sat upon the Throne. He was a
prince of a mild and peaceable temper, and so valetudinary that
* For an exhaustive and, we think, conclusive discussion of this knotty point, see
The Clan Battle at Perth, in 1396: by Alexander Mackintosh- Shaw, printed for pri-
vate circulation, 1874.
86 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
he was obliged to manage all his affairs by his Ministers. His
brother, the Duke of Albany, an active and intelligent prince,
governed at Court ; and two of his nobility, Thomas Dunbar,
Earl of March, and James Lindsay, Earl of Crawford, commanded
his troops. These two generals were sent to the Highlands to
settle these commotions, but finding that they could not execute
their orders by force, without risking the loss of their army, they
endeavoured to bring the rival chiefs to some reasonable terms of
agreement ; and after many overtures they fell upon a proposal
that was very agreeable to both. It was in a word this : That
thirty of each side should fight before the King and Court without
any other arms but their swords, and that the party that should
happen to be defeated should have an indemnity for all past
offences ; and that the conquerors, besides the estate in dispute,
should be honoured with the royal favour. By this method,
continued they, the plea will be determined in a manner that will
testify submission and loyalty to the Crown, and give the world
a lasting proof of the courage and bravery of both parties.
Pursuant to this treaty, both the chiefs appeared at Court,
and all preliminaries being adjusted, the King ordered a part of
the North Inch, or plain upon the banks of the river, near the
City of Perth, to be enclosed with a deep ditch, in the form of an
amphitheatre, with seats or benches for the spectators, his Majesty
himself sitting as judge of the field.
The fame of the extraordinary combat soon spreading over
the kingdom drew infinite crowds from all parts to witness so
memorable an event. The combatants appeared resolute and
fearless, but, when they were just ready to engage, one of the
Mackintoshes, who had withdrawn himself from fear, was amiss-
ing ; whereupon the King demanded that one of the Camerons
should be removed, but all of them expressing a great unwilling-
ness to be exempted, one of the spectators, named Henry Wynd,
a saddler and citizen of Perth, presented himself before the King,
and offered to supply the place of the absent coward on condition
that, if his party came off victorious, that he should have a French
crown of gold for his reward.*
* Donald Mackintosh, already quoted, and who asserts that the combat was be-
[acphersons and the Davidsons, gives the following version :-
The day appointed being come, both parties appeared, but upon mustering the
HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS. 87
The parties being now equal, to it they fell, and fought with
all the rage and fury that hatred, revenge, and an insatiable thirst
of glory could inspire into the breasts of the fiercest of mankind,:
Like lions and tigers they tore and butchered one another, with-
out any regard to their own safety, and the reader will find it
easier to imagine than to express the various passions that agi-
tated the breasts of the spectators in the different scenes of so
bloody a tragedy. The king, a good natured prince, was seized
with an inexpressible horror ; nor was there any present who was
not shocked at the cruel spectacle. But it was observed that
Henry Wynd distinguished himself above all others during this
furious conflict ; as he was not spirited and disordered by the
same passions as the rest of the party, so he employed his strength
combatants, the Macphersons wanted one of their number, he having fallen sick ; it
was proposed to balance the difference by withdrawing one of the Davidsons, but so
resolved were they upon conquering their opponents, that not one would be prevailed
upon to quit the danger. In this emergency, one Henry Wynd, a foundling, brought
up in an hospital at Perth, commonly called an Gobh Crom, i.e., the Crooked Smith,
offered to supply the sick man's place for a French crown of gold, about three half-
crowns sterling money, a great sum in those days. Everything being now settled, the
combatants began with incredible fury, and the Crooked Smith being an able swords-
man contributed much to the honour of the day, victory declaring for the Macphersons,
of whom only ten, besides the Gobh Crom, were left alive, and all dangerously
wounded. The Davidsons were all cut off, except one man, who, remaining unhurt,
threw himself into the Tay, and escaped. Henry Wynd set out from Perth, after the
battle, with a horse load of his effects, and swore he would not take up his habitation
till his load fell, which happened in Strathdon, in Aberdeenshire, where he took up
his residence. The place is still called, Leac 'ic a Ghobhain, i.e., The Smith's Dwell-
ing. The Smiths or Gows, and Macglashans, are commonly called Sliochd a Ghobh
Chruim, i.e., the descendants of the Crooked Smith ; but all agree that he had no pos-
terity, though he had many followers of the first rank, to the number of twelve, who
were proud of being reputed the children of so valiant a man ; and the more to in-
gratiate themselves in his favour, they generally learned to make swords as well as to
use them, which occasioned their being called Gow, i.e., Smith. His twelve ap-
prentices spread themselves all over the kingdom. Most of them took the name of
Mackintosh ; those who write otherwise, own their descent from them, though many
of them are Macphersons, &c.
Smith of Ballvarry's motto, " Caraid an am feum," i.e., "A friend in need,"
seems to allude to the Gobh Crom's assisting the Macphersons on the above occasion.
As soon as the Gobh Crom had killed a man he sat down to rest, and being perceived
by the captain, he demanded the reason. The other answered that he had performed
his engagement, and done enough for his wages. The captain replied that no wages
would be counted to him ; he should have an equivalent for his valour ; upon which
he immediately got up to fight, and repeated the saying: — " Am fear nach
tadh riuni cha chunntainn w."
s^s THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
and directed his courage with more discretion and play; and to his
conduct it was principally ascribed that they at last had the advant-
age of their antagonists. Four of 'the Mackintoshes (all mortally
wounded) survived, and only one of the Camerons escaped, he
having the good fortune to remain unhurt, had the address to
save himself by swimming across the River Tay; nor were the
miserable victors in a condition to prevent him. The brave
mercenary, Henry Wynd, likewise survived, without so much as a
scratch on his body. His valour is still famous among his country-
men, and gave rise to a proverb, which is commonly repeated when
any third person unnecessarily engages himself in the quarrels of
others—" He comes in, like Henry Wynd, for his own hand."*
Such was the issue of this memorable combat, which though
it did not put an end to the difference betwixt the rival clans, yet
the most fierce and turbulent among them having been destroyed,
it suspended the effects of their differences for years after, f
Ewen Cameron was continually engaged in local feuds and
skirmishes. He on one occasion fought a duel in vindication of
the honour of an injured lady, who, in return, celebrated his gal-
lantry and valour in a beautiful Gaelic song, " still sung," says our
author, " with pleasure by his posterity." Is it known to the clan
now?
He was succeeded by his distinguished son, the famous
" Domh'ull Dubh Mac Eoghainn," from whom the patronymic of
the clan, and of whom in our next.
(To be continued.)
* Mr Mackintosh Shaw informs us that the Mackintosh MS. History says that the
absentee on their side was seized with sickness shortly before the fight — a not unlikely
occurrence, considering the temptations which a capital would offer to a semi-barbarous
Gael. This is a natural suggestion for a Mackintosh to make, but both Bo war and Lesly
agree with the Cameron chronicler that the absentee Mackintosh "became faint-
hearted," and was amissing "for fear." In reference to the after history of Henry
Wynd, Mr Shaw says that " tradition has a pleasing record that this man accompanied
the remnant of the Clan Chattan champions to their country, was adopted into their
clan, and became the progenitor of a family, afterwards known as Sliochd a Ghobha
Chntim (the race of the Crooked Smith.) This record is far from incredible, more
especially as Bowar represents the Smith of Perth as stipulating for his subsequent
maintenance if he should leave the field alive. Strathavon is said to have been the
place where he took up his abode, and here, as well as in the neighbouring localities,
his reputed descendants have long flourished, and are still to be found. The Smiths or
Gows generally appear among the septs, of which the Clan Chattan of more modern
times was composed, and which acknowledged the Chief of Mackintosh as their chief
and captain. Some families of the name of Smith have the motto, Marie et engenio,
which is peculiarly appropriate, if any of those bearing it are descendants of the re-
nowned Smith of Perth. "—The Clan Battle at Perth, pp. 16-27.
t Memoirs of Locheill, Author's Introduction, pp. 10-12.
89
A RUN THROUGH CANADA AND THE STATES.
BY KENNETH MACDONALD, F.S.A., Scot.
II.— MONTREAL.
ON the night of my arrival in Montreal I did not move far away
from my hotel — the St Lawrence Hall — but for a city which in
comparison with Glasgow, for instance, is a small one — for the
population of Montreal is less than one-third that of Glasgow —
the spectacle presented by St James' Street at night was suffici-
ently striking. To begin with, » the St Lawrence Hall itself was
brilliantly lighted, both inside and out, by the electric light, which
rendered the street in the neighbourhood as bright as day. On
either side were other buildings similarly lighted, and the effect
was to give the city in appearance of bustle and life, which, with
less brilliant lights, it would not present. The effect of the spec-
tacle upon me was somewhat modified by the recollection of the
roughness of the streets. The drive from the railway station
to the hotel gave me my first experience of driving in America,
and it was by no means a pleasant one. The vehicle was
dignified with the name of omnibus, and so far as shape and
general appearance were concerned it closely resembled the car-
riage bearing the same name at home. A drive of what seemed
to be rather more than a mile along what I afterwards found to
be one of the main thoroughfares of Montreal, convinced me for
the time that whatever general resemblance a Canadian omnibus
might have to a Scottish one there was an essential difference in
the matter of springs. As we went bumping along the road, now
butting our heads against the low roof and next into the waist-
band of a fellow-passenger opposite, I was forcibly reminded of
Horace Greeley's famous ride, which reached its climax when,
after being pounded into a sort of jelly inside the carriage sent
for him, a sudden bound of the wheels over the rough. road sent
his head, hat and all — the only hard bits remaining — through the
roof. Greeley's driver had some excuse, for he had promised to
have his famous charge " there by seving." Our Jehu had no
90 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
such excuse, as there was no anxious crowd awaiting us, and a-
half hour one way or other would not have mattered. When,
with aching bones and ruffled temper, I reached the hall, I con-
cluded in my haste that the Canadians had not yet learned the
use of springs. In my leisure, I found that Canadians not only
knew the use of springs, but could teach us a good deal in the
matter of wheels. Their carriage springs are at least as good as
ours, and their wheels are a marvel of lightness and strength. As
a people, however, they seem to have been too busy about other
things to devote much attention to the making of good roads and
streets. The Montreal streets I soon found were neither better
nor worse than the streets in other transatlantic cities, always ex-
cepting Winnipeg. They are rough, very rough, but yet they are
driven over, as a rule, more rapidly than our better roads at home
usually are. A stranger driving over them for the first time will
not enjoy it, but one soon gets accustomed to it. Comparative
comfort can, however, be had in the street cars, and to one who
wishes to see a great deal of a large city in a short time these are
to be recommended.
In Montreal, as in the rest of Lower Canada, a British visitor
is at first surprised at the extent to which French is spoken. But
when it is remembered that Montreal was originally settled by
French Catholics in pursuance of an attempt to found in America
a veritable Kingdom of God as understood by devout Roman
Catholics, and that more than one-half of the whole population of
the city now ts of French origin, it ought to form no matter for
surprise that French is generally spoken. Moreover French law is
administered in the courts, French deeds are as frequently the
subject of litigation as English ones, Parliamentary candidates
deliver speeches in French, and all parliamentary proceedings are
officially published in French as well as in English. It is no won-
der, therefore, that in Montreal every person who has received an
ordinary education is able to read, speak, and write the French
language as fluently as he does English.
One of the first acquaintances I made in Montreal was Mr
Andrew Burns of the Grand Trunk Railway of Canada, an elder
brother of our respected townsman, Councillor Burns of Inverness.
From Mr Burns I received an amount of kindness for which I
was unable at the time, and am unable yet to thank him ade-
THROUGH CANADA AND THE STATES. 91
quately, but I take this opportunity of expressing my gratitude
to him for the many kindnesses I received at his hands during
my several visits to Montreal. Mr Burns has been in Canada for
over twenty-five years, and has filled various important positions
in connection with the Grand Trunk — by far the largest railway
system in Canada — and the position he now holds is one of the
most important in the system. His success proves that he
performs his duties with ability, and his popularity with the
people of Montreal is evidenced by the fact that, when a recent
promotion removed him to a post where he came less frequently
into contact with them, they were almost inclined to regret his
good luck. Mr Burns is still a comparatively young man, and I
hope he has yet a long career of usefulness before him. Through
Mr Burns I made the acquaintance of Mr Phippen, of the Central
Vermont Railway, a Yankee, as he himself said, from Boston, but
so like a veritable John Bull in figure and speech that I had some
difficulty in believing him when he told me he was an American.
During this my first visit to the city I divided my time
pretty equally between persons and places. One interesting his-
torical spot to which I paid a visit was the Custom-House, a
handsome building on the river front, covering a triangular piece
of ground, which, in the old days, was formed by a little stream
falling there into the main river. Upon this spot on i8th May
1642 were laid the foundations of Ville-Marie de Montreal. The
ceremony was a curious one, as will be seen by the following ex-
tract from Parkman : — " Maisonneuve sprang ashore, and fell on
his knees. His followers imitated his example, and all joined
their voices in enthusiastic songs of thanksgiving. Tents, bag-
gage, arms, and stores were landed. An altar was raised on a
pleasant spot near at hand, and Mademoiselle Mance, with
Madame de la Peltrie, aided by her servant, Charlotte Barre, de-
corated it with a taste which was the admiration of the beholders.
Now all the company gathered before the shrine. Here stood
Vimont in the rich vestments of his office. Here were the two
ladies with their servant, Montinagny, no very willing spectator ;
and Maisonneuve, a warlike figure, erect and tall, his men cluster-
ing around him. They kneeled in reverent silence as the Host
was raised aloft; and when the rite was over the priest turned
and addressed them — ' You are a grain of mustard seed, that shall
92 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
rise and grow till its branches overshadow the earth. You are
few, but your work is the work of God. His smile is on you, and
your children shall fill the land.'" Verily, the grain of mustard
seed has grown into a tree whose branches overshadow the land,
as the enthusiastic Vimont predicted. Montreal has now a popu-
lation of over 140,000, and of these over 100,000 are Roman
Catholics. I do not know that every one of them is as pious as
the enthusiasts of the seventeenth century, or that even Catholic
Montreal is a Kingdom of God on earth; but their churches,
which are found in every part of the city, are among the most
magnificent in the world, and their priests jostle the lay passenger
into the gutter at every street corner.
Leaving the river-side I first walked and then drove through
a considerable part of the city, and I soon found why it was
that when Scotland ran short of ministers she so frequently drew
upon Montreal, and why when a renegade monk comes to
enlighten Scotch Presbyterians he has always a good deal to say
of Montreal. Montreal is a city of churches. It had, as has been
seen, a religious origin, and it has been trying hard to preserve
its early reputation ever since. The result is that it is, to put it
mildly, well supplied with religious edifices. Mark Twain recently
said, speaking in Montreal, "that he never was in a city before
where one could not throw a brick-bat without breaking a church
window." A recent writer on the subject says — " The action and
reaction constantly going on in a community containing an
unusual number of earnest men of all conceivable shades of
ecclesiastical opinion naturally excites a corresponding amount
of zeal which has crystalised into stone and mortar." This may
be the explanation, and the writer, who lives in Montreal, ought
to know. I have, however, seen people, by no means eminent
for piety, go through a performance which looked uncommonly
like trying to cheat the devil by building a church.
While crossing the Atlantic I heard a good deal about the
Rev. Gavin Lang, recently translated to Inverness, who is well-
known throughout Canada, and especially in Montreal. Of course
opinion is divided as to the attitude taken up by Mr Lang in
connection with the application of the Church temporalities on
the union of the various Presbyterian Churches in Canada some
years ago ; but, in Montreal at least, his large-hearted toleration,
THROUGH CANADA AND THE STATES. 93
and the heartiness with which he always co-operated with his
Catholic and Episcopalian fellow Christians, were only spoken of
to be praised. Toleration is one of the traditions of religious life
in Montreal. Immediately after the conquest of Canada the
Protestants used one of the Roman Catholic Churches for wor-
ship after the morning mass. In 1766, and for twenty years
afterwards, the Church of England people occupied the church
of the Recollets every Sunday afternoon. Before 1 792 the Pres-
byterians used the same church, and when they moved to their own
first church they presented to the priests of the Recollet Church
a gift of candles for the High Altar, and of wine for the Mass, as
a token of goodwill and thanks for the gratuitous use of the
church. When Mr Lang, after living for some years in the re-
ligious atmosphere of Montreal, returned to Scotland his first
public utterance was an offer to co-operate with Christian fellow-
workers of all denominations. All praise to him, and may his
example soon be widely followed.
I went inside only one of the Montreal churches, that com-
monly called the Cathedral, but the true designation of which is
the Parish Church of Notre Dame. The church stands upon the
Place d'Armes, and is so striking an object that it at once attracts
the attention of a stranger. It is built of limestone, and, looked
at from the outside, appears a plain and substantial but stately
building. It is surmounted by two towers, which are over two
hundred feet high. The inside of the church contrasts strangely
with the outside. The inside is all paint, gilt, and beautifully
carved woodwork. It is very brilliant, perhaps too brilliant,
according to Scotch taste, for a church. Looking back from the
front of the altar upon the tiers of pews, with the richly decorated
galleries rising one over the other, one can well believe that the
church will comfortably hold the 10,000 people which it is said
to accommodate. My visit was made on a Thursday about mid-
day. Seated here and there in the pews were worshippers
engaged in their devotions, and near the altar a delicate-looking
young woman was kneeling with her pale face turned upwards
from the time I entered the building until I left, and probably
for some time before and after. The majority of the people in the
building were, however, like myself, strangers, who respectfully
walked on tiptoe through the church, hat in hand, examining the
94 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
pictures and decorations. For a small sum access can be had
during the summer months to the top of one of the towers. In
ascending, the Great Bell, said to be the largest in America, is
seen. It weighs 29,400 Ibs. From the top a magnificent view
of the city and surrounding country is obtained, and the visitor
to Montreal should not miss the sight. An American writer (Mr
Howells) thus describes the sight — " So far as the eye reaches it
dwells only upon what is magnificent. All the features of that
landscape are grand. Below you spreads the city, which has less
than is merely mean in it than any other city of our continent, and
which is everywhere ennobled by stately civic edifices, adorned
by tasteful churches and skirted by full-foliaged avenues of
mansions and villas. Behind it rises the beautiful mountain,
green with woods and gardens to its crest, and flanked on the
east by an endless fertile plain, and on the west by another
expanse through which the Ottawa rushes, turbid and dark, to
its confluence with the St Lawrence. Then these two mighty
streams commingled flow past the city, lighting up the vast
champaign country to the south, while upon the utmost southern
verge, as on the northern, rise the cloudy summits of far off
mountains."
After leaving the Church of Notre Dame I continued my
walk through the city, not knowing in the least where I was, or
where I was going to, and caring very little so long as my watch
showed me the time had not arrived when I must jump into the
handiest conveyance to get back to my hotel to meet my friend
Mr Burns. Walking onwards I came upon an open space from
which I could see the river. Overlooking the river I saw a
column, and on the column a statue, and near them two large
guns. The statue was one of Lord Nelson, and the guns two of
those taken at Sebastopol, and presented to the city by the
Home Government. The column and statue were placed in
their present position (the place is, I believe, called Jacques Car-
tier Square) soon after Nelson's death at Trafalgar, and they look-
as if the only attentions they had received since were the reverse
of kindly. The gun-carriages are old and dilapidated, and the
guns were falling out of them. The whole place has an appear-
ance of neglect which seems to indicate that Montreal has for-
gotten to revere the hero in whose honour it erected a statue in
THROUGH CANADA AND THE STATES. 95
1 808. As to the guns, if they are left alone for a year or two longer
they will part with what is left of their carriages, and either roll
into the river, or bury themselves in the mud in which the trucks
of their carriages are already nearly out of sight. For the credit
of Montreal I hope some energetic alderman will call attention
to the condition of the Nelson Statue, and either have it buried
out of sight or put into a state worthy of the hero it was meant
to commemorate, and of the beautiful city in which it stands.
The appearance presented by Montreal when looked at from
the river is one of its most pleasing aspects. A long line of
quays faced with grey limestone runs along the river side, and
there, nearly 1000 miles from the Atlantic and 250 miles above
salt water, the largest ocean-going vessels lie afloat at their moor-
ings loading and discharging their cargoes. During the season
the navigation of the St Lawrence is open, three large ocean
steamships sail weekly from Montreal to Liverpool, and two to
Glasgow, while five other lines have fortnightly sailings to Britain
or the Continent of Europe. These represent only the regular
lines, and do not include the numerous steamers trading to the
port, which do not have fixed days for sailing. In 1880 the value
of the exports from Montreal exceeded £6,000,000 sterling, while
the imports exceeded £7,000,000. This large trade did not come
into existence without effort on the part of Montreal. Quebec is
1 60 miles nearer the Atlantic, and would appear to be the natural
seaport of Canada, and, but for the enterprise of Montreal, it
would be the actual seaport.
About midway between Montreal and Quebec the St Law-
rence opens out into the Lake St Peter, the greater part of the
channel through which was comparatively shallow. Upwards of
thirty years ago, however, the Harbour Commissioners of Mon-
treal commenced operations, having for their object the deepening
of the shallow parts of the channel, and these operations have
continued ever since. The result is that now the channel is so
deepened that there is a minimum depth of twenty-five feet at
low water, and the deepened channel is 300 feet wide at its
narrowest part. But for these extensive operations it would be
impossible for the large ocean-going vessels which now frequent
the harbour of Montreal to come near that port. They would be
compelled to load and discharge at Quebec. As it is, it is so rare
96 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
an occurrence for a large vessel to stop short at Quebec without
going up the river to Montreal, that in a Quebec paper, published
on the day I left Canada, a special article in prominent type
chronicled and commented on the fact that a large vessel, the
name of which was given, had discharged her cargo, and was to
load a return cargo of timber at Quebec without going up the
river. There does not appear to be any good reason why Quebec
should not have an independent and flourishing trade of her
own without in any way interfering with Montreal. Near Quebec
there is a large extent of heavily timbered country, and this, if
energetically and judiciously worked, would form a nucleus, round
which the trade of the port might once more be developed.
K. M'D.
(To be continued.)
LACHLAN MACDONALD OF SKEABOST.
PROFESSOR BLACKIE, in a sketch of this really good and truly
patriotic Highlander contributed to the Scotsman, wrote the fol-
lowing lines " in praise of the good laird of Skeabost, and in
illustration of that most orthodox doctrine that we are here, not
for the purpose of plashing in shallow pools, of what foolish
young gentlemen and idle lordlings call pleasure, but for creating
good out of evil, and beauty out of ugliness, by well-directed
energy" : —
Skeabost, albeit no breadth of glowing skies
Flings floods of light on this mist-mantled isle,
Thou, like a god, hast shaped with plastic toil
The waste into a blooming Paradise.
On lazy loons let Heaven drop fatness ; they,
In their own fat drone out their languid lives ;
But in harsh fate's despite the brave man thrives,
And gains in strength from sweatful day to day.
There are who dream of gods that nothing do,
But round Jove's festal board they sit and sip
Deep bowls of nectar with luxurious lip ;
But our God works ; and we His work pursue,
Most like to Him when we subdue the crude
Chaotic mass, rejoicing in the GOOD.
THE
CELTIC MAGAZINE.
CONDUCTED BY
ALEXANDER MACKENZIE, F.S.A., Scot.
No. LXXXVII. JANUARY 1883. VOL. VIII.
THE HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS.
By the EDITOR.
III.
XI. — DONALD CAMERON, known among the Highlanders as
Domhnull Dubh, or Black Donald, and from whom the chief of
the clan takes his patronymic of " MacDhomh'uill Duibh," suc-
ceeded his brother Ewen, at a turbulent period in the history of
the Highlands. He was with Donald, second Lord of the Isles,
at the battle of Harlaw, in 1411, where many of his followers
were slain. He also joined Alexander, third Lord of the Isles,
in 1429, when the Island lord, at the head of a large force, burnt
and pillaged the town of Inverness, and then retired, with his
followers, to Lochaber, where he was met by King James in
person, commanding a powerful body of royalists, who, taking the
Lord of the Isles unexpectedly, routed his followers. On the
appearance of the king the Camerons and the Mackintoshes
deserted the Lord of the Isles and joined the royalists. Alexander
sued for peace, and shortly after came to terms with the king.
His friends, however, did not forgive the Camerons for deserting
him and going over to the king at Lochaber, and Donald Balloch
ultimately took full revenge upon the clan, compelling themselves
G
98 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
to escape to their mountain fastnesses, and their chief to flee for
safety to Ireland, where he remained for several years ; while in
his absence, his lands of Lochaber, of which the Lord of the
Isles was superior, were bestowed upon John Garve Maclean,
progenitor and founder of the Macleans of Coll.* Domhnull
Dubh, however, after a time, returned and drove the Macleans out
of the district, killing their young chief, John "Abrach" (so
called from his residence in Lochaber), who disputed possession
with him.f
Gregory, after referring to these proceedings, states that
John, Earl of Ross, granted the same lands at a later period to
John Maclean of Lochbuy, and again to Celestine, Lord of
Lochalsh. " It is natural," he says, " to suppose that the Clan-
chameron, the actual occupants of Lochiel, would resist these
various claims ; and we know that John Maclean, second Laird
of Coll, having held the estate for a time by force, was at length
killed by the Camerons, in Lochaber, which checked for a time
the pretensions of the Clan Gillean. But as the whole of that
powerful tribe were now involved in the feud — some from a
desire to revenge the death of Coll, others from their obligations
to support the claims of Lochbuy — the chief of the Camerons
was forced to strengthen himself by acknowledging the claim of
the Lord of Lochalsh [to whom the Earl of Ross granted the
Cameron lands after he granted them to Maclean.] The latter
[Lochalsh] immediately received Cameron as his vassal in
Lochiel, and thus became bound to maintain him in possession
against all who pretended to dispute his right to the estate."J
The Macgillonies, curiously enough, supported the Macleans
against the rest of the Camerons on this occasion. For this
they suffered very severely afterwards, but ultimately became
reconciled to their immediate friends, and they nearly all adopted
the name of Cameron.
* For a full account of the proceedings at Harlaw, Inverness, and Lochaber, see
The History of the Macdonalds and Lords of the Isles, by the same author, pp.
60 to 87.
t Seannachie's History of the Macleans, p. 306. Skene calls Maclean " Ewen."
J History of the Western Highlands and Isles of Scotland, p. 76. In a charter,
dated 1492, Alexander of Lochalsh styles himself "Lord of Lochiel."
HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS, 99
The lands of Lochiel were, according to the best authorities,
" probably included in those of Louchabre in the grant of the
Earldom of Moray by King Robert Bruce to Thomas Ranulph
between 1307 and 1314. In the year 1372, or 1373, King Robert
II. confirmed a grant by John of Yle to Reginald of Yle his son
of 60 marklands in Lochabre, including Loche and Kylmald
(apparently Lochiel and Kilmalie). In 1461 John of Yle, Earl
of Ross and Lord of the Isles, granted to his kinsman John the
son of Murdac M'Gilleoin of Lochboyg the following lands in
Locheale in his lordship of Lochaber, namely, the lands of Banvy,
Mykannich, Fyelyn and Creglwing, Corpych, Innerat, Achydo,
Kilmailze, Achymoleag, Drumfarmolloch, Faneworwill, Fasfarna,
Stonsonleak, Correbeg, Achitolledoun, Keanloch, Drumnasalze,
Culenap, Nahohacha, Clerechaik, Mischerolach, Crew, Salachan,
and the half of Lyndaly." The same authority says that the lands
of Locharkaig were included in the Earldom of Moray, granted
as above to Thomas Randulph, between 1307 and 1314, and that
"in 1336 John of Isla, afterwards Lord of the Isles, granted the
lands of Glenluy and Locharkaig to William Macintosh, chief of
Clanchattan. From that period the lands are said to have been
the subject of a deadly feud between the Clanchattan and the
Clanchameron for upwards of three hundred years. In 1372, or
1373, King Robert II. confirmed a grant of the lands of Lochar-
kage, made by John Yle to Reginald of Yle his son. Between the
years 1443 and 1447, Alexander, Lord of the Isles, is said to
have confirmed to Malcolm Macintosh, chief of the Clanchattan,
his lands in Lochaber (including Glenluy and Locharkaig), and
to have granted him the office of Bailie of the district. For
several years after 1497, the same lands, belonging to the Clan-
chattan, were forcibly held by the Clanchameron." * We shall
have occasion to notice the consequent feuds and sanguinary
fights between the two clans as we proceed. Meanwhile it may
be well to give the family chronicler's version of the incidents, to
which we have just referred.
Having described the part Donald Dubh and his followers took
at Harlaw and at Inverlochy, and their desertion, with the Mack-
intoshes, at the latter, from the Earl of Ross to the King, he says
that, "though the Camerons and Mackintoshes agreed in their
* Origines Parochiales Scotiae, Part I. Vol. II. 181-183.
TOO THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
principles of loyalty, yet their formal quarrell about the estate
divided them as much as ever, and brought them to an engadge-
ment on Palm Sunday, which was fought with that obstinacy
and furry that most of the Mackintoshes, and almost the whole
tribe of the Camerons, were cutt to peices." He then gives an
account of Donald Balloch's victory, shortly after, over the Royal
forces, under the Earls of Mar and Caithness, when the latter
was killed, and the former wounded, making a narrow escape with
his life; and then proceeds to say that "Donald Balloch, having
now no enemy to oppose him, he turned his fury against the
Camerons, and wasted all Lochaber with fire and sword. Donald
[Dubh], their chief, drew all this mischief upon him and his clan
for doeing their duty," and he further informs us that, in addition
to his chief having deserted the Earl of Ross and joined the king on
the previous occasion, he now, when Donald Balloch himself com-
manded the Islanders, added a fresh cause of resentment ; for he
not only positively refused to assist in the present rebellion, but
he openly declared for the king, and was drawing his men to-
gether in order to join his generals when they were unhappily
defeated by Donald and his followers from the Isles. "This
double defection enraged the victorious Balloch to such a degree
of fury that he came to a resolution of extirpating the whole
clan, but they wisely gave way, and retreated to the mountains,
till the storm blew over. Donald, their chief, was obliged to take
shelter in Ireland, though some say that he went not thither till
some time thereafter that he was condemned to banishment, by
an unjust decree of the Earl of Ross, and the Counceil of Parlia-
ment, as some people affect to call it. ... Donald, chief of the
Camerons, was soon recalled from Ireland by the groans of his
people, who were crewelly oppressed and plundered by a robber
from the north, called Hector Bui M'Coan, who, with a party of
ruffians tooke the opportunity of his absence to infest the coun-
trey. Being joyned by a sufficient party of his clan, he pursued
the robbers, who fled upon the news of his arival, and overtook
them at the head of Lochness. But Hector, with his prisoners,
for he had taken many, and among them Samuel Cameron of
Gleneviss, head of an antient tribe of that clan, escaped him by
takeing sanctuary in a strong house called Castle Spiriten, where
he barbarously murdered them. In revenge of their death,
HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS. 101
Donald caused two of Hector's sons, with others of their gang
who had falen into his hands, to be hanged in view of the father,
a wretch so excessively savage that he refused to deliver them by
way of exchainge, though earnestly pressed to it." The author
then gives an account of the contentions between the Camerons
and the Macleans already referred to, in which the latter were
defeated, and their leader killed, at Corpach. When Donald Dubh
became " Master of the charters he [Maclean] had from the Earl
of Ross, he destroyed them," and chased Maclean's surviving fol-
lowers out of Lochaber. " Donald's next business," he continues,
"was with the Mackintoshes. Alexander, then chief of that
clan, had not only reconciled himself with the Earl, but so far in-
sinuated himself into his favours, that he obtained from him a
charter to the disputed lands of Glenlui and Locharkicke, and
some time thereafter procured a grant of the stewartry and Bail-
liarey of all Lochaber. In a word, he tooke possession of the
estate, which occasioned many feirce skirmishes, and the issue
was that the Mackintoshes were in the end obliged to retire into
their own countrey. The rest of his estate, which had been like-
waise given away, he soone recovered, and possessed in peace dur-
ing his life." *
The Lord of the Isles, shortly after his liberation, was
made Justiciar of the Kingdom of Scotland north of the Forth,
and, soon after, a perfect understanding seems to have been
arrived at between him and Mackintosh ; while his enmity to
the Camerons seems, if possible, to have become more intense
than ever. The reconciliation with Mackintosh, according to a
recent writer, " is the more strange, as he appears never to have
forgiven the Camerons for the part they had taken against him
in 1429. The unvaried loyalty exhibited by the chiefs of
Mackintosh to his family previously to 1429, and the good service
done his father at Harlaw by Malcolm Mackintosh himself, no
doubt went a great way in inclining him to show favour to the
Clan Chattan ; yet so far as former loyalty was concerned, the
Camerons were equally entitled to consideration. There must,
therefore, have been some reason for the difference of conduct
which Alexander pursued towards the two clans, for the munifi-
* Memoirs of Loch e 'ill ', Author's Introduction, pp. 16-19.
102 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
cencc with which he treated the one, and for the rigour with
which he persecuted the other. This reason may possibly lie in
the fact that while Mackintosh had been openly on the side of
the king for some time before Alexander's defeat in Lochaber,
the chief of the Camerons had Contributed, in no small degree,
to that defeat, by his desertion on the eve or after the commence-
ment of the campaign. Another reason may be that Alexander
hoped, by making the Clan Chattan his instruments in hunting
down the Camerons, to obtain revenge on both clans at the same
time, by giving them a pretext for slaughtering each other.
However this may be, one of his first proceedings on being
made Justiciar of the North, was to take measures against the
Camerons. He had an excuse for pursuing them, ready to
his hand, in their resistance to Mackintosh's claims on the lands
of Glenlui and Locharkaig ; and it was with his connivance, if
not with his authority, that the Clan Chattan began, in 1441, to
invade and harry the Cameron lands. In this year a sanguinary
conflict took place at Craig Cailloch between the two clans,
in which Mackintosh's second son, Lachlan ' Badenoch,' was
wounded, and Gillichallum, his brother, killed. This was fol-
lowed by a raid under Duncan, Malcolm's eldest son, in which
the Cameron lands were harried. In the end, Donald Dubh,
then chief of the Camerons, was forced by the inveterate ani-
mosity of the Justiciar to flee to Ireland." *
Donald Dubh is admitted on all hands to have been a man
of extraordinary parts, combining great prudence with bravery
and other righting qualities of the very highest order, and no
better evidence is required of his great popularity among his own
people than the fact that the chiefs of the clan continue to be
styled after him in the vernacular to this day as " MacDhomh'uill
Duibh." He is said to have married the heiress of Macmartin
of Letterfinlay, to have succeeded to her property, and, at the
same time, to have united by this marriage the Camerons and
Macmartins, not only under one chief, but so completely that
most of the Macmartins adopted the name of Cameron. He
is said, in the "Memoirs," to have had two sons, Ewen and
Donald, both of whom are stated to have succeeded him, one
History oj (he Mackintoshes ami Clan Chatting by Alexander Mackintosh-Shaw.
HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS. 103
after the other. This can scarcely be correct. Indeed, the
author himself describes them in a manner which proves that even
if two chiefs of the names mentioned had succeeded they could
not have been brothers ; for while he calls the first " Ewen
M'Coilduy," or Ewen the son of Donald, he calls the latter
Donald Dow M'Evven, or Donald Dubh son of Ewen. Neither
of these appear on record, while Skene, Gregory, and all the best
authorities agree that Donald Dubh was succeeded by his son,
XII. — ALLAN CAMERON, so well known in the history and
traditionary lore of his country as " Ailean MacDhomh'uill
Duibh." He became a vassal of Celestine, Lord of Lochalsh,
and keeper of his Castle of Strone, in Lochcarron.* In 1472
Celestine "granted lands in Ross to Allan the son of Donald
Duff, Captain of the Clancamroun." •(• These lands comprised
the twelve merk lands of Kishorn, and, in the charter, Celestine
calls him his " beloved kinsman, Allan, the son of Donald Duff,
or Dow, Captain of the Clan Cameron," to whom the lands are
given, and to the heirs-male lawfully begotten, or to be be-
gotten, between him and Mariot, lawful daughter to Angus,
Dominus de Isles, and, in default, to his other heirs-male by any
subsequent marriage, and, these failing, to the heirs-male of
Ewen, his brother german, and, failing these, to return to the
granter and his heirs. The document is dated the last day of
November 1472. Allan is also described in several charters to his
successors as the son of Donald Dubh ; but it is quite clear, from
the charter just quoted, that he must have had a brother Ewen,
though it is equally clear from Allan's designation, as Captain of
the clan, during Ewen's life, that Ewen was a younger brother.
Allan MacDhomh'uill Duibh is acknowledged to have been
one of the bravest warriors of his time. He is said "to have
made thirty-two expeditions into his enemy's country for the
thirty-two years that he lived, and three more for the three-
fourths of a year that he was in his mother's womb. Whatever
truth may be in this, it is certain that his good fortune failed him
in the end ; for being too much elated with his former successes
he again made preparations for another invasion, of which his
next neighbour, Keppoch (who, for I know not what reason, had
* Gregory's Highlands and Isles; and Reg. of Great Seal XII. 203.
t Origines ParochiaUs Scotiae; and Reg* Great Seal Lib. XIII., No, 203,
,04 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
conceived an enmity against Allan), having information, he ad-
vised Mackintosh of the design, and promising to follow him in
the rear with all the men he could raise, he formed a plot for
cutting his party to pieces. Allan had no notice of the contriv-
ance, and, despising an enemy which he had so often insulted,
proceeded in his intended invasion. Mackintosh was prepared to
oppose him, but artfully delayed engaging till Keppoch came up,
and attacked him in the rear. In short, the Camerons were ob-
liged, after an obstinate fight, and the death of their chief, who
was killed during the heat of the action, to give way, in their
turn, to the superior numbers of the confederates." *
The family manuscript says that Allan married Marion,
daughter of Angus, Lord of the Isles, and grandchild of the Earl
of Ross. This cannot be correct. Angus Og of the Isles, who is
referred to, had no daughters that we know of, nor was he ever
in reality Lord of the Isles ; for he died several years before his
father. He was an illegitimate son, and the only issue of his
of whom anything is known, is the famous Donald Dubh, after-
wards styled Lord of the Isles, whose legitimacy of birth has also
been stoutly contested. Allan, in point of fact, married Mariot,
daughter of Angus Macdonald, known among the Highlanders
as "Aonghas na Feairte," second of Keppoch, who is styled
" Angus de Insulis," in a charter of confirmation granted to
" Alano Donaldi capitanei de Clan-Cameron et heredibus inter
ipsum Alanum et Mariotam Angussii de Insulis." The lady's
paternal grandfather was thus, Alastair Carrach Macdonald, third
son of John, first Lord of the Isles, by his second wife, Lady
Margaret, daughter of King Robert II. of Scotland. Alastair
Carrach himself is referred to in a complaint by William, Bishop
of Moray, in 1398, as " Magnificus vir et potens, Alexander de In-
sulis, Dominus de Louchabre."f This is at least as good and
illustrious an ancestry as the tainted one claimed by the family
genealogist from Angus Og, the bastard son of John, fourth and
last Earl of Ross, and Lord of the Isles.
Allan was succeeded by his son, Ewen MacAllan.
* Memoirs of Locheill, Author's Introduction, p. 24.
t The History of the Macdonalds and Lords of the Isles, by the same author, pp.
479-480.
(To be continued,)
105
ORIGIN OF THE MACGILLONY CAMERONS.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
SIR, — In the Celtic Magazine for November you have commenced the interesting
history of the Clan Cameron, and whatever be the origin of the clan, whether Danish
or Celtic, the origin of the name is unquestionably pure Gaelic — Cam-a-shroin or
Sroin-cham. At page 5 you interpret the word Macgillony or Macgillanaigh to
mean the Son of the Prophet. Our tradition concerning that name is different
in Argyllshire, and somewhat as follows : —
At an early period in history, possibly the period referred to at page 6 of the
magazine, when Cambro, the Dane, is said to have married an heiress, a daughter of
the chief of the Cameron Clan had occasion to be on a stormy day on the rocky sea-
board of Corpach, where the waves were lashed into foam by the fury of the tempest.
There, in a sheltered cove, protected from the blast by rocky cliffs, on either side, she
found, partly covered by the foam, a basket, in which there was carefully put up a
male child of heal and healthy appearance. The child was taken home, and brought
up in the family of the chief, and, on coming of age, he assumed the name of Cameron,
but he was never acknowledged by the clan to be a Cameron, he having not a crooked
but a straight nose.
This Gill-onfhaidh, or Son of the Tempest, married an heiress of a sept of the
Clan Cameron, whose descendants became very numerous in Lochaber and so
recent as to be in my own recollection. The difference between the two branches
was carefully noted by old men of my native parish. The Camerons of the crooked
nose resided in Cowal from my earliest recollection, but on one of the other branches
coming to the district, I can well remember an old man saying — Cha Chamshronach
idir e, V ami a tha e do Chloinn-ic-Onaidh-nan-Toitean a thainig air tir aig a
Choi'paich.
There is much meaning in a name, as instituted by our ancestors, and historians,
like Dr Skene, however highly-gifted and educated they may be, should not be
allowed to transmogrify those names to square with modern notions.
The Sroin-cham branch of the clan has been noted from time immemorial for the
keen relish they have for flesh. In the village of Cladaich, on Lochawe side, there
once met a happy wedding party. The best man was a gentleman — a Campbell —
and an officer in the army. When seated at the supper-table there sat right opposite
him a gentleman of the Clan Cameron. On finishing meals at wedding parties, modest
jesting became a frequent pastime. With a design to produce a jest, Campbell fixed
his fork into a well polished bone on his plate, and handed it across the table to
Cameron, which was the signal to him to favour the company with a jest, or a verse
of poetry. Taking the bone in his hand, Cameron replied as follows : —
An Sergant Caimbeul so shuas,
Duine uasal o bhun nan cnoc,
Shin e 'n droll dhomh thar a bhord,
Ach b'ait leis gu leor a bhi na chorp,
I06 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
'S ged thug sinne speis do 'n fheoil,
'S car a bhi n 'ar sroin na deigh,
Tha pairt eile 's caime beoil,
Cho deigheal air an fheoil ruinn fein.
To show what a keen relish for flesh was peculiar to this branch of the clan, whether
in Cladaich or in other parts of the Highlands, the following story will illustrate :—
About fifty-five years ago, there was situated in the district of Arisaig, in Inverness-
shire, a John Weir, an officer of excise. His chief duties were to prevent the smug-
ling of whisky. Mr Weir had occasion to be on business in the town of Inverness,
and when passing the jail, whether on the Castlehill or elsewhere in the town, I know
not, he saw a man's hand between the iron bars, as if waving him to come upstairs.
He was not aware that any one inside knew him, and was passing without paying
any attention to the prisoner, on seeing which a voice from within was heard to say,
Ian, a ghaolaich, thig a nzos;on. hearing which he ascended the stair; was admitted to
the prisoner's cell ; and, to his astonishment, there he found a neighbour of his own, a
farmer in comfortable circumstances. Mr Weir, in astonishment, exclaimed —
" Ciod air an fsaoghal Aonghuis, a chuir an so thu /"
" Och! Ian a ghaolaich, nach eil fhios agad 7"
" Fios, cha 'n eil aon fhios agamsa"
''''Nach rob/i Biorach a bha '« sid ; Biorach air an do rinn mi greim."
" Ciod am buaireadh a thug dhuitse greim a dheanadh air Biorach duine eile, 's
gu Icor do Bhioraich agadfein ?"
"Oc/i! Ian, a ghaolaich, nach eil fhios agad? Na Caina-shronaich so! na
Cam a-shronich da m bheil mise; saoil thu?m faigh iad bias air feoil, ach an fheoil
bhradach /"
When meeting with one of the Cameron Clan, Mr Weir often related the story of
Angus and the Biorach, he being greatly amused by the concluding sentence of the
apology Angus made for being a prisoner in the jail of Inverness.
Mr Weir afterwards removed to Kirkintilloch, where he died. He and his widow
are buried in the kirkyard of Kilmun.
At page 213 of the Teachdaire Gaelach there is an account of a meeting of Loch-
iel and the Duke of Athol, the conclusion of which agrees with the foregoing re-
garding the Cameron clan, and their relish for Feoil.
A chlanna nan con thigibh 'n so,
A chlanna nan con thigibh 'n so,
A chlanna nan con thigibh 'n so,
S gheobh sibh feoil.
COIRRE-AN-T' SITH.
[We are much obliged to our good and valued friend for his interesting letter ;
and further communications from him, or from any others, for private use or for
publication, in connection with the history and traditions of the Camerons, will be
much esteemed by THE EDITOR.]
ORAN CHLANN DOMHNUILL NAN EILEAN.
LE ALASTAIR BUIDHE MAC IAMHAIR (ALEXANDER CAMPBELL).
[Lord Macdonald, on one occasion, invited Alastair Btiidhe to visit him at Arma-
dale Castle. The bard went, and was so well received and so respectfully treated
that he composed the following song, since printed in the "Mountain Songster" without
the author's name. It is the only one of the bard's poems which has ever secured
the dignity of type, until we began to give them in the Celtic Magazine} : —
Air Form — " Cabarfeidh."
Beir soraidh uam gum eolas,
Gu Troterneis, 'se b' aite learn,
An talamh maiseach, boidheach,
An tir ro ordail mhearcaiteach,
Far 'm bheil na daoine coire,
Dh' fhas fialaidh, m6r, neo-acaineach ;
Mnai uaisl' is suairce comhradh,
Gun ghruaim, gun phrois an taice dhoibh.
An tir ro-fhairmeil, chliuiteach, ainmeal,
Mhuirneach, mheamnach, mhacanta ;
Bu lionmhor, sealbhach, iasg na fairge,
Trie ga mharbhadh 'n taice riu ;
Thig bradan tarra-gheal, inneach, mealgach,
Iteach, earra-ghlan, breac-lannach :
Am fonn 'an dearbhte 'n cinn an t-arbhar
Diasach, ceanna-mhor, pailt-ghraineach.
B'i sud an duthaich fhialaidh
Air an e'ireadh grian gu moch-thrathach —
Tir Itibach, sthrathach, iosal,
Gu monach, sliabhach, gucagach ;
Tir chruachach, sguabach, liontach —
Tir mheasail, mhiaghail, thrusganach —
Tir mh6r 'tha coir gu biatachd,
Tir bh6idheach, lianach, lusanach.
Tir bhuadhach, bhlath, gun chruas, gun chas,
A' tigh'nn fo bhlath gu ruiteagach ;
An grunnd a b'fhearr o shliabh gu traigh,
Gu fasach, lanach, sultmhorra :
Crodh-laoigh 's gach ait', a' sior bhreth ail,
Gu bliochdach, darach, sruth-bhainneach ;
Is grinn a' ghair aig fuaim nam ba
'Dol suas ri aird nan uchdanan.
I08 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
Bi'dh mnathan donna, duallach,
'N an dail gu cuachach, cuinneagach,
'S iad modhail, banail, stuama,
Neo-ghruamach, uasal, iriosal ;
Le'n alach glan mu'n cuairt doibh
'G an togail suas gu h-innealta,
'S iad f&n gu laghach, suairce,
Gu caoimhneil, cuanda cinneadail.
Bi'dh 6ighean mine, boidheach, finealt',
St6ilte, rioghail, ion-ghradhach—
Gun fhuachd, gun ghris, gun ghruaim, gun sgios,
Ro shnuagh'or, finealt, binneagach :
A's pairt diubh 'sior chur aird air ni,
Gun chas, gun strith, gun iomadan ;
A's pairt, mar chi, le lanachd ni,
'Cur faigh'm air siod' 's air ghrinneasan.
Bidh daoine tlachdmhor, c6ir ann
Ag 61 mu bh6rd gu h-oileineach,
Nach mall, 's nach gann mu'm p6ca,
'S nach di d'an st6ras teir'eachdain ;
B' i sud an Fhine mh6rail,
Clann-D6mhnuill Mh6r nan Eileanan,
Nach inndrinn ann an d6-bheairt,
'S nach t6isich air ni 'cheileadh iad.
Na laoich 'bha treun ri km an fheuma,
Cr6dha, gleusda, fearachail ;
'Bha ullamh, re"idh, gu siubhal sl&bh,
Gu ruitheach, leumach, deannalach ;
Gur math an t-dideadh-crios am fell',
Am breacan eutrom, ainneamh, orr'
An uair a dh'e'ighte 'cheud ratreut
Gu dol 's an streup gu ceannasach.
'N uair thogte 'bhratach bhalla-bhreac
Gu meamnach os ceann churaidhean,
'Ur laochraidh thlachdmhor, dhealbhach,
Gur garg an taobh a chuireas iad,
Nan &readh fraoch no fearg orr',
Gu'm b' anmanta, garbh, guineach iad ;
Cha phillear sibh le armailt
Ged dheanadh Alba cruinneachadh.
Bi'dh loingeas bhreid-gheal, cuan 'g a reubadh,
Se61ach, reultach, iullagach,
Lamh-dhearg 'ga h-6igheach, cinn 'g am beum,
Aig se6id nach g6ill do chunnartan ;
An taobh a dh'&ght' iad, b' ullamh, r&dh iad,
'S mairg d' am b' 6iginn fuireach riu ;
Bi'dh fe6il gu f&sd aig e6in an t-sWibh'
?S gach se6rsa b<Sisd a chruinnichcas !
109
A RUN THROUGH CANADA AND THE STATES.
BY KENNETH MACDONALD, F.S.A., Scot.
III. — MONTREAL AND GLENGARRY.
RUNNING along the river front for a mile and a-half is a solid
wall protected by" a rail, and in front, about ten feet lower than
the street, are the wharves, so that the visitor standing on the
street above, or leaning on the protecting rail, can look down
upon the traffic of the busy harbour without feeling himself in
the way, or running the risk of being run over by any of the
many vehicles continually passing to and fro carrying goods to
and from the harbour. If the visitor chooses to walk along the
river front he will be pleasantly surprised to find that instead of
having — as he might expect, if he is accustomed to walk in the
neighbourhood of harbours — to pick his way carefully along a
filthy unsavoury thoroughfare, he has before him a street as clean
and free from impediments as he needs wish to walk on.
To return to the City. The occasion of my visit to the
harbour was to engage my berth for the return voyage. The
office of the Montreal Ocean Steamship Company (the Allan
Line) is on the river street facing the harbour, and there I was
treated with that scant courtesy which appears characteristic of
the employes of this firm in all their principal offices, the one
honourable exception whom I came across being Mr Macdermott,
of the Glasgow office.
I spent so much time in making myself familiar with
Montreal that the time I had fixed for going westward arrived
without my having made the acquaintance of several gentlemen
to whom I had been favoured with letters of introduction. Most
of these I subsequently met. One I have not yet seen. This is
Mr John Macdonald, a native of Tain, and now an accountant in
extensive practice in Montreal. After my return home I learned
that Mr Macdonald, seeing from one of the morning newspapers
that I had registered at the St Lawrence Hall, had called there
no THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
for me only to find that I had left for Quebec. I regret not
having met Mr Macdonald, of whom I had heard much, and I
thank him for his intended kindness to a stranger in a strange
land.
One of the gentlemen, the pleasure of making whose
acquaintance I had to postpone on the occasion of my first visit
to Montreal, was the Hon. D. Macmaster, Q.C,M.P., a successful
lawyer and a rising politician. I had employed some of my time
on the voyage across the Atlantic in reading one of Mr Mac-
master's political speeches while contesting the county of Glen-
garry, Ontario, at the recent general election in Canada. A great
part of the speech read very like a personal attack on his opponent
and to me its tone was so distasteful that I was by no means
prepossessed in favour of its author. It was, perhaps, therefore as
well that I did not see Mr Macmaster while I was new to Canada.
When I came to know a little more of Canadian politics and the
amenities of political life in that great Dominion, my views were
considerably modified. In Canada political discussion seems to
include not only abuse of your opponent's works, but of himself.
That being so, a young man fighting a great political battle
would hardly be expected to commence with a crusade against
the prevailing tone of political controversy. To do so would have
been unwise, and Mr Macmaster, who is one of the most success-
ful of the younger members of the Canadian Bar, and who,
although still a young man, has been a prominent politician for
several years, was not the sort of person to imperil his success by
an appearance of quixotry. He was successful, and that, too,
although his opponent was the late Lieutenant-Governor of On-
tario, and probably the strongest candidate who could have "been
run by his party.
GLENGARRY.
In the evening I left Montreal for Lancaster, a town between
fifty and sixty miles further west on the line of the Grand Trunk
Railway. The line runs along the left bank of the St Lawrence.
On we sped through a beautiful country in the cool evening
air, past Lachine, where the early French navigator, coming
to a place where the St Lawrence widened into a small lake,
thought he had at last found the true road to China, and gave
THROUGH CANADA AND THE STATES. in
the place the name which it bears to this day ; past Saint Anne
Bout de L'Isle where the mighty Ottawa, after a course of over
600 miles, pours its muddy waters into the St Lawrence; past
numerous little villages and towns frequently named by the de-
vout French settlers after some obscure saint, and sometimes
after obscurer sinners, until, just as evening was wearing into
night, we steamed into Lancaster Station. A telegram I had
sent in the early part of the day to Mr Macrae, the pro-
prietor of one of the hotels in the place and the son of an
emigrant from Kintail in the bad days" of old, had the effect of
placing a team at my disposal on the arrival of the train to carry
me to my destination, the village of Williamstown, some five
miles from Lancaster. Before proceeding up the country, how-
ever, I went into the town of Lancaster, first to ascertain whether
I was really on the track of the friends I purposed visiting, and
in the second place to make the acquaintance of Mr Macrae,
of whom I had read in the Celtic Magazine of February 1880.
Mr Macrae as a host is all he was in 1879, but since that time he
has lost his eldest son, him to whom he looked to be the stay of
his old age, and the light of the father's life seems to have gone
out when his son was taken from him.
My enquiries proving satisfactory, I was, after a short stay
in Lancaster, driving at a brisk pace through the dull but bracing
night air towards Williamstown, Glengarry.
And this was Glengarry — the other Glengarry across the
Atlantic. This name was the record left by the banished High-
lander of his loyalty to his native country, notwithstanding its
indifference to his fate, of his love of his native glen, notwith-
standing that his last glimpse of it had been caught through
blinding tears wrung from him by the relentless cruelty with
which he and his children were hunted out of home and country
by those who ought to have been their natural protectors. But
who has fared better in the years that have gone bye since the
Glengarry and Knoydart evictions — the evictor or the evicted ?
Go to Glengarry, go to Knoydart, and find how many acres
remain in the family of the evictors. Not one. How, on the
other hand, has it fared with the evicted ? When they were
hounded out of the lands which were by right their own, they
made themselves new homes in a new country, and, to make their
H2 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
homes as homelike as possible, they fell upon the strange conceit of
calling their new country by the old name, and Glengarry it is to
this day. And this Glengarry now belongs to their sons, while
in the home glen the name of their oppressors is forgotten.
Glenelg, Morar, and Kintail also contributed their quota of
evicted Highlanders to people the Canadian Glengarry, and now
the descendants of people who left Scotland, homeless and penni-
less, within the memory of men yet alive, are landed proprietors,
cultivating, in most cases, their own land, and living in circum-
stances always of comfort, and frequently of affluence.
If the road could have been left out of account, the surround-
ings were favourable for musing. But in Canadian travelling, the
road cannot be left out of account. Fortunately, here it was soft
and dry, and when the wheels suddenly sank down into a two-
feet deep rut, the sensation was not altogether unlike being tossed
in a blanket or thrown into a feather bed. I was curious to know
how the road looked after a spell of wet weather, and began to
ply my driver with questions, but he was not very communicative.
What he said, however, seemed to amount to this, that it is never
wet here for any length of time — in summer the roads are
dry, and, although soft, easily driven over — in winter everything
is frost-bound and hard, and it really does not matter much
whether you have a road to drive your buggy or sleigh on or not
— a field serves as well ; for a short time in spring things are wet
and disagreeable, but the period is so short, and the roads are so
little used during it, that their state causes little inconvenience.
Three weeks afterwards it was my misfortune to drive over that
same road, and a mile or two more between the town of Lan-
caster and the River St Lawrence, and when, looking like an
animated sample of Canadian soil, I arrived at my destination, I
thought that that young man had deliberately imposed on a
simple stranger.
All this while, however, I am driving towards Williamstown,
where, about 10 P.M., I was landed at the door of the friends I
had come to see. Nearly thirty years had elapsed since they had
seen any one from home, and now there was naturally a great
deal to ask and tell. When, after hours spent in talking of
home, of the still living, and of the loved ones who were dead, I
laid my head on my pillow, I felt that I realised for the first time
THROUGH CANADA AND THE STATES. 113
that an emigrant has often to suffer more than mere physical
hardships. Home-sickness is sometimes a sad reality, involving
physical consequences which no amount of material comfort away
from home can cure. How many, I wonder, of the Highlanders
lying in the little church-yard opposite my window that night in
Williamstown, a church-yard containing the dust of many of the
original settlers of Glengarry, could tell of hearts broken by the
severance of home ties, by a life-sentence of banishment ? Was
their cry heard ? Surely it was. We ought not, perhaps, to call
the misfortunes of our fellow-men judgments, and yet standing
among the graves of the Highland emigrants of Glengarry, and
looking back upon the history of their oppressors, one almost
instinctively remembers that it was the God whom both oppressed
and oppressor worshipped, who said " The cry of the children of
Israel is come unto me," and again, " If thou afflict them in any
wise, and they cry at all unto me, I shall surely hear their cry,
and my wrath shall wax hot."
Early in the morning I was astir, and out seeing Williams-
town. It is not much to look at. The houses are mostly of
wood, covered with shingles, and the business premises — shops
and inns — are the same. It would be putting it too strongly to
say there was an air of decay about the place, but there is cer-
tainly a want of life. But it is only a village, for a new country
a pretty old village, and in many things like a similar place at
home. The fact is, I suppose, that the place is too far from either
of the lines of railway running through the County of Glengarry,
and too near the town of Lancaster to have much chance of be-
coming anything more than a mere village. Many of the inhabi-
tants are old settlers who took up their abode in Williamstown
before their was a railway in the county, and now when they
find themselves situated between two lines of railway communi-
cation— one the Grand Trunk Railway of Canada, and the other
the Eastern Division of the Canadian Pacific system — both too
far away to do them any good, and one of them near enough to do
them perhaps a little harm, they are too old to care about making
another change, and so they sit down contentedly where they
are. But it would be a mistake to suppose, because Williams-
town is not a growing place, that its people are not comfortable,
and, as a rule, well to do. Everybody seems comfortable, and
II
ii4 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
although Glengarry does not move fast enough to please the
people of Toronto, its people as a whole are well to do. There
are of course exceptions. In one or two cases farms were pointed
out to me which had, until a year or two ago, been owned by
Scotch settlers, who, it was said, being unable to work the land to
profit, sold out to French Canadians from the Lower Province,
who are now making money where the Scotsmen failed. As a
rule the French Canadian is not noted for energy, especially as
a farmer, and the fact that a few Scotsmen have been sup-
planted in Glengarry by a corresponding number of Frenchmen,
or rather Canadians of French descent, was several times quoted
to me as if the whole of the Scotch Colony in Glengarry were
tainted with the vice of the two or three men who are said to
have failed where success was possible. It need hardly be said,
however, that what has occurred does not by any means prove
that the whole of the Scotch Canadians in Glengarry are inferior
in energy and business capacity to their neighbours, and yet it was
subsequently put to me in this way by men who could not be sus-
pected of a desire to discredit our countrymen, and their own, in
Canada. They put it so, however, to justify a practice which I
took the liberty of condemning, that of separating Scottish
settlers, a subject to which I shall presently refer.
There have been, however, removals from farms in Glengarry
during the past few years, brought about by causes which have
operated in other parts of the Dominion as well as throughout all
the older States of America. The owner of a good farm in
Ontario can sell it at from forty to one hundred dollars per acre,
while by moving westward to Manitoba or the North West
Territory he can purchase a farm of virgin soil of unsurpassed
fertility for from one to ten dollars per acre. Indeed, it need
never cost him anything like the latter sum unless he is very
difficult to please, or desires to acquire a particular section for
speculative purposes. He can have the choice of the best wheat
producing lands in the world, situated within easy distance of the
line of the Canadian Pacific Railway for two and a-half dollars
per acre, one half of which will be repaid to him for every acre
brought under cultivation within four years. As the original
price of the land is payable one-sixth in cash, and the balance in
five annual instalments, beginning a year after entry, it will be
THROUGH CANADA AND THE STATES. 115
seen that for a man with limited means and a large family to
provide for, the inducement to go westward is strong. Take the
case of a farmer in Ontario who owns a farm of 200 acres and
has six sons. If he remains in Ontario he cannot do much for
the lads. The farm is too small to divide among them, and the
father's whole means are tied up in it and the stock upon it He
cannot even provide his sons with capital to make a fair start for
themselves either at home or in the West if he is to stick to his
Ontario home. In these circumstances his farm, which is worth
probably sixty dollars per acre, is put into the market, and fetches
twelve thousand dollars (£2406). With this sum, and the pro-
ceeds of the stock, the whole family go to the West, and in a few
weeks the father and each of his six sons are settled in farms
each as large as the one they left, and probably more fertile.
The payment of the first instalments of the purchase price takes
less than six hundred dollars (£120), so that, leaving out of
account the proceeds of the stock of the old farm, the family have
still a capital of 11,400 dollars, or about £2280, to work upon.
At the end of five years, if they are industrious, their farms are
their own, at a total cost for the whole seven of 1750 dollars, a
little over £350, or about one-seventh of the price fetched by the
one farm in Ontario. This, it need scarcely be said, is a result
which could not have been brought about had the family re-
mained at home. But even this is by no means the best that a
family such as I have instanced can do for themselves in the
West, for, by the manner in which the prairie lands of the North-
West are surveyed for settlement, each member of the family
might take up a free homestead grant of 160 acres in one section,
and. purchase an adjoining quarter section of 160 acres of railway
lands. In this way each of them would acquire a farm of 320
acres at a cost less by one-fifth than I have given for a 200
acre farm. Moreover, the family would not be separated, for by
the admirable arrangements of the Canadian Government in hav-
ing free homestead land, and land which can be acquired only by
purchase, laid out in alternate sections (640 acres), the members
of a family who wish to settle near each other can have all their
farms adjoining without losing any of the benefits of separate
settlement.
There have been cases of unsuccessful farming, I have no
n6 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
doubt, in Glengarry as elsewhere, and among Scotch settlers as
among settlers of other nationalities, but that every case where a
Scotch settler sells his farm is to be accounted for by want of
success where success was possible, I do not believe. In Toronto,
when I questioned the wisdom of the policy pursued in the
Government of separating Scotch settlers from each other, while
settlers from other countries were afforded facilities for living
together, I was told that my countrymen never did well as
farmers when they were left to themselves and formed a purely
Scotch settlement, and Glengarry was quoted as an instance;
while, on the other hand, it was stated that when mixed with
settlers of other nationalities the emulative spirit of the Scotsman
was roused, and he became the best farmer, the most successful
merchant, and the most prominent man in his district. I could
not see then, and I cannot yet see, that Glengarry exhibits any-
thing to warrant so sweeping a charge against purely Scottish
settlements. The farmers of Morayshire, of Easter Ross, and of
East Lothian are mainly, if not entirely Scotsmen, and if there is
land in Canada better farmed than the land in these districts of
Scotland, I did not sec it. What Scotsmen can do here they can
do in Canada. It does not require any admixture of a foreign
element to make Scotsmen prosperous in Scotland, and it is
difficult to understand why such an admixture should be necessary
in Canada. I do not say that Glengarry is all it might be, all
that I would like it to be, a model for the rest of Ontario, but I
do say, after paying it a second visit, and going through a great
part of two of the four townships into which the country is
divided — Charlottenburgh and Lancaster — that the farming of
Glengarry, so far as I was able to judge of it, is at least equal to
the average of Canada.
It is time now, however, to be moving westwards. On a
dull heavy morning my friend Jack Sullivan, having carefully
packed me into his buggy as if he feared I might be broken in
transit, drove me into Lancaster in good time for the westward
train. Time enough fortunately to see and make the acquaint-
ance of a few more Highlanders— two of them Macdonalds —
uncle and nephew, both genuine Celts, who would persist in ad-
dressing me in Gaelic, and could not be got to understand how it
was that a native of Inverness, and a friend of the Editor of the
MEMENTOS OF MY FATHER'S GRAVE. u;
Celtic Magazine, did not know his native language. I deplored
the shortsightedness of those responsible for my upbringing in
neglecting so important a branch of my education ; reminded
them that in my youth Gaelic was not so fashionable an acquire-
ment, as, thanks very much to my friend Professor Blackie, it has
since become ; and then, having drowned all discord in a drop of
old rye, I left my new-found friends with a qualified promise to
take the earliest opportunity of remedying the defect in my edu-
cation. K. M'D,
(To be continued.)
MEMENTOS OF MY FATHER'S GRAVE.*
Soft, silky leaves of freshest green,
Which grew upon my father's grave ;
Mementos hallowed of a man
Whose heart was warm, sincere, and brave.
Of humble sphere, but noble aims,
He calmly stemmed life's stormy sea ;
Upright and manly, frank and pure,
A trusty friend, and true was he.
A loving husband, faithful, kind,
A tender father, wise, discreet ;
Our weal his chief concern, delight,
His happy home made labour sweet.
His words were few, for well he weighed
Each thought and subject ere he spoke ;
In humour rich ; and oft essayed
A simple, pleasant, harmless joke.
My father ! thy blest memory
I dearly cherish day by day ;
And for its sake I'll prize these leaves
Which grew above thy sacred clay.
And when life's course with me is run,
When soon or late I must resign
This earthly frame, oh, may it rest
Beneath a turf as green as thine !
New York. DUNCAN MACGREGOK CRERAR.
* Written on receiving a few beautifully fresh green leaves, which grew on our
father's grave, from my brother Alexander, to whom the above verses are most
affectionately inscribed.
1,8 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
THE HONOURS OF SCOTLAND.
BY M. A. ROSE.
I.
OF the hundreds who yearly visit Edinburgh, and among other
sights, go to gaze on the Regalia, how few know the history
of these national relics ; the many dangers and vicissitudes they
have passed through ; the narrow escape they once had of
falling into the hands of Oliver Cromwell, and thus being most
probably lost to Scotland for ever. Hence, we think, that a
glance at their history may not prove altogether uninteresting.
The ancient Regalia, or, to use the old name, the Honours
of Scotland, fell into the hands of the victorious Edward I., who,
having gained his purpose by using the weak and facile John
Baliol as his tool, as soon as that purpose was accomplished, felt
no compunction in despoiling the newly made king, not only of
all real power, but even of the insignia of authority. In 1296
Baliol was summoned to appear before Edward at the Castle of
Montrose, and there, to use the words of the old writer, Wyntown,
was " dyspoyled."
" Of all hys robys of royalte :
The pelure thai tuk off his tabart,
(Twme Tabart he was callyt efteyrwart.)
And all othire insyngnys,
That fel to kyngis on ony wys,
Bathe scepter, swerd, crowne, and ryng,
Frae this Jhon that he made kyng,
Halyly fra hym tuk thai thare,
And made hym of the kynryk bare :
Than this Jhon tuk a qwhyt wand,
And gave up in-til Edwardis hand,
Of this kynryk all the rycht,
That he than had, or have mycht,
Fra hym and all his ayris thare,
Tharept to claime it nevyr mare."
What Edward did with the Honours, thus ruthlessly obtained, is
not known ; most probably the gold and jewels were sold to help
to defray the expenses of his army ; certain it is that they were
THE HONOURS OF SCOTLAND. 119
never seen in Scotland again. This is borne out by the fact that,
when Bruce first succeeded in asserting his right to the Scottish
Throne, and was crowned at Scone, the ancient Regalia were not in
existence ; or, at least, if they were, they were not within his reach,
for a temporary circle or coronal of gold was made for the pur-
pose, and even this poor substitute for the ancient crown fell into
the hands of the English after the defeat of Bruce at the dis-
astrous battle of Methven.
It is supposed that the present Crown was made by order of
Robert Bruce after he had again succeeded in gaining the throne,
as it was said to be the one used at the coronation of his son,
David II., in 1329. At all events the learned in such matters
declare the workmanship of the older portion of the Crown to be
as early as the fourteenth century. The precious stones in it are
in a rough state ; whereas in all workmanship of a later date the
stones are cut into facets. Again, previous to the time of Bruce,
all the representations of the Scottish Crown, on coins and seals,
show a diadem ornamented with fleurs de Us only ; but after his
time, ti\z fleurs de Us are interchanged with crosses, as appears on
the present crown. Next in point of antiquity comes the Sword
of State, which is a beautiful specimen of early art, not only
interesting to the antiquary, but also to the lover of art as an
example of the great perfection attained by the artificers of the
sixteenth century. This sword was presented to King James IV.
by Pope Julius II. in the year 1507. The handle is richly chased,
and the sheath covered with filigree work, executed with great
delicacy and skill. Representations of the Papal Tiara and the
keys of St Peter are intermingled with the foliage of oak leaves
and acorns, the personal device of Pope Julius. His Holiness
also presented to the king at the same time a consecrated hat,
both of which presents were delivered with great ceremony and
solemnity in the Church of Holyrood by the Papal Legate and
the Abbot of Dunfermline.
The Sceptre is of a somewhat later date. When James V.
was preparing for his alliance with one of the princesses of France
he would naturally wish that his Regalia should be as splendid as
possible, and it is said that he took advantage of his visit to Paris,
in 1536, to employ some of the noted artists of that city to make
a Sceptre for him, as well as to very materially alter and improve
120 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
the Crown, by adding two concentric circles, surmounted at the
point of intersection by a mound of gold, enamelled, and a large
cross patee, upon which is engraved J.R.V. It is evident that
these circles or arches did not form part of the original crown ;
for the workmanship is of a different and inferior description, the
metal is not of the same quality, the gold being less pure than
that used in the diadem, to which the added arches are attached
by gold tacks. In the Advocates' Library there is a MS. diary
of Lord Fountainhall, in which there is a memorandum to the
effect that "the Crown of Scotland is not the ancient one, but
was casten of new by James V." We expect this statement must
be taken in the limited sense of King James having added to
and altered the original crown, and not that he made an entirely
new one.
The Sceptre bears the same initials as the Crown, viz., J.R.V.,
and is surmounted by a large mass of rock crystal with peculiar
setting, which, from the rudeness of its style, appears out of char-
acter with the rest of the workmanship, and seems to point to a
much earlier period of art. It has been suggested that this stone,
" which in the wardrobe inventories is dignified with the name of
a 'great beryll,' was an amulet which had made part of the more
ancient Sceptre of the Scottish kings.
The Honours were always used at the coronation of the Mon-
arch, and when Parliament assembled they used to be borne in
solemn procession to the Hall of Assembly, and worn by the
Sovereign. In his absence they were laid on the table in front of
the throne as emblems of the royal authority, and the king's con-
sent to Acts of Parliament was signified by touching them with
the Sceptre.
The different articles of the Regalia were entrusted to the
care of the Earl Marshall of Scotland, which high office was
hereditary in the family of Keith; but during the time when
Parliament was not sitting the Regalia were kept with the rest of
the royal treasure in the Jewel House, under the care of the
Treasurer. This arrangement was made in consequence of the
Earl Marshall's estates and castles being so far north, and at
such a distance from the seat of Government.
In an inventory of the royal treasure, taken in 1539, the Re-
galia are thus described : —
THE HONOURS OF SCOTLAND. 121
" JOWELLIS.
" Item, ane crowne of gold, sett with perle and precious stanis.
" Item, in primis diamentis, tuenty.
" Item, of fyne orient perle thre scoir and aucht, wantand ane
floure delice of gold.
" Item, ane septour, with ane grete bereal and ane perle in the
heid of it
" Item, twa swerdis of honour, with twa beltis, the auld belt
wantand foure stuthis.
" Item, the hatt that come fra the Paip, of grey velvett, with
the Haly Gaist set all with orient perle."
In another inventory, taken in 1 542, they are thus described —
" Item, in the first his grace's croun, full of precius stanes
and orient perle, with ane septur set with ane greit barrell.
" Item, twa swerdis of honour, with twa beltis wantand four
stuthis.
"Item, ane rob royall of purpour velvatt lynitt with armin, and
ane kirtill of the samyne velvatt, lynitt in the foir breistis with
armyn and heid siclyk.
" Item, the Queen's Grace's croun, set haill with the perle and
precious stanis, with ane sceptour with ane quhyte hand."
Again, in 1621, a more accurate description is given in the
inventory, in which all the blemishes are mentioned ; for instance,
it says that ten of the small cJialloms, or spaces, were filled with
blue enamel instead of stones ; two cJialloms quite empty, and two
other filled in with white stones, also, that the top of the Sceptre
was broken, and that the handle and scabbard of the Sword of
State had been damaged, all of which injuries, we believe, to be
still observable.
One of the swords mentioned in the inventories, as well as
" the queen's graces croun, the hatt that come frae the Paip, and
the rob royall of purpour velvatt," have long since disappeared,
leaving only the three articles, the Crown, Sceptre, and Sword of
State.
When James VI. succeeded to the Crown of England he
took south with him most of the royal treasure ; but the Honours
were considered to belong exclusively to the Scottish Nation, and
I22 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
were left as before in charge of the Treasurer when Parliament
was not sitting.
It is stated that when Charles I. was crowned he wished to
have the Honours of Scotland sent to London for that purpose ;
but the Scottish Privy Council would not allow them to be taken
out of the kingdom. So highly did Charles value the ancient
Regalra of his ancestors, coupled it may be with a desire to please
the national pride of his Northern subjects, that, after his corona-
tion in London, he made a journey to Edinburgh, and was there
again crowned with the Honours of Scotland.
This incident closes what we might term the first and most
glorious part of the history of the Regalia. Within a very few
years of the time when they figured at the coronation of Charles
I., amid the applause of a whole nation, the political sky became
darkened with the worst of all tempests — a civil war.
On the 6th of June 1651, the Scottish Parliament sat amid
the confusion and turmoil caused by the advance of Cromwell and
.his victorious Ironsides. Edinburgh was no longer a safe place
for the Honours, and one of the last acts of the Parliament was to
order the Earl Marshall to remove the Regalia for better safety
to his " strong Castle of Dunottor, within the shyre of Mearns, as
a place of greatest security and distance from the Enemie." Soon
after this was done, the Earl Marshall was himself called to the
field in the service of his king. In this dilemma he chose Captain
George Ogilvie of Barras, a prudent, brave, and loyal soldier, who
had served with distinction in the German Wars, as his lieu-
tenant, and granted a commission to him, dated 8th July 1651,
in which he gives him the entire charge of Dunnottar Castle, the
Regalia, and many valuable documents, which had been placed
in his hands for safety.
Sir John Keith (the Earl Marshall) went to England, en-
gaged in the battle of Worcester, was afterwards captured, and
sent a prisoner to London, where he was confined in the
Tower. In the meantime Captain Ogilvie began to fear for the
safety of his valuable charge, as he had neither men, ammunition,
nor provisions sufficient to stand a long siege, with which he was
now threatened. In this strait he applied for instructions and
advice to John Campbell, Earl of Loudon, the Chancellor, His
lordship replied that as neither the Parliament nor the Committee
THE HONOURS OF SCOTLAND. 123
of Estates had met, he could give no positive advice nor order on
his own responsibility; and he goes on to say, "if you want provi-
sions, soldiers, and ammunition, and cannot hold out against all
the assaults of the enemy, which is feared you cannot do, if hard
put to it, I know of no better expedient than that the Honours be
speedily and safely transported to some remote and strong castle
in the Highlands; and I wish you had delivered them to the
Lord Balcarres, as was desired by the Committee of Estates ; nor
do I know any better way for the preservation of these things and
your exoneration. And it will be an irreparable loss and shame
if these things shall be taken by the enemy, and very dishonour-
able for yourself."
Thus Captain Ogilvie was placed in a very unenviable posi-
tion, with the great responsibility on his shoulders of the safe
keeping of the Honours of the nation, without adequate means to
defend them from assault. True, he might have relieved himself
by delivering them to the Earl of Balcarres, as desired by the Com-
mittee of Estates, but he did not consider their order a sufficient
warrant ; for he says in a letter to Balcarres, " haveing reseaved
the charge of that hous (the Castle of Dunotter) and what was
intrustett therein, from the Earll Marshell, and then by a parti-
cular warrand under his Majestie's own hand," ... "I con-
ceave that ther is no place in this kingdom quhair they cane be
more secure nor quhair they ar, and with less charges, if the
Comitie of Estaits be pleased to tak order tymeouslie for furnish-
ing of me with such things as is necessar for defence of this hous."
Ogilvie soon found, however, that Dunnottar was not a suffi-
ciently secure place, for it was closely besieged by the Parlia-
mentary army, and was summoned to surrender three several
times, first by General Overton, on the 8th November 1651, again,
on the 22nd of the same month, by General Button, and lastly,
by General Lambert, on the 3rd January 1652, who offered him
most honourable terms, which Ogilvie refused in the following-
spirited letter : — " Honored Sir, — I have receaved yours for sur-
rendering the Castle of Dunnotter, the lyk whereoff I have re-
ceaved from sundrie of your officiars befor, and have given answers
therto: that being intrusted be his Majestic I wold not surrender
the same upon any hazard whatsomever, but intends, by the help
of the Lord, to maintainc the same till I shall have orders from
124 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
his Majestic in the contrair. I shall be as loath as any to occasi-
onc the effusione of blood, whereoff too much hath bene alreadie,
but shall be far more loath to betray the trust imposed upon me.
I cannot but thank you for your offers, and remaine, Sir, your
servant, GEORGE OGILVY."
January 7, 1652.
And this brave soldier did actually hold his own against the
might of Cromwell, until the month of May, the same year, when
he received a letter from the Earl Marshall saying that he had
resolved to put himself, his fortune, and prosperity, freely into the
hands of the Lord General, and make the best terms he could
for his future liberty, and, consequently, ordered Ogilvie to sur-
render his Castle of Dunnottar to Major-General Deane, on the
most favourable conditions he could make.
One can well imagine that Ogilvie was not sorry to be thus
relieved of his arduous and dangerous post ; he immediately set
about making arrangements for vacating Dunnottar Castle, and
corresponded with General Deane as to the terms for " the randi-
tione of the Castle." He succeeded in getting very handsome
terms, as such a gallant soldier deserved; and, on the 24th of
May 1652, he and his small garrison marched out with drums
beating and colours flying.
One of the conditions of the surrender of Dunnottar was that
the Honours of Scotland should be given up to the English
General; but Captain Ogilvie, though quite willing to give up
the castle at the command of its owner, was too good a patriot to
tamely submit to be the instrument of disgracing his nation
by allowing its Regalia to fall into the hands of the enemy. He
had accordingly taken precautions for the safety of these na-
tional relics, the particulars of which must be left for another
paper.
THE ETHICS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY.— We are glad to intimate a
series of papers on the Ethics of Political Economy, by Mr Malcolm Mackenzie, Guern-
sey. The first will appear in our next issue. Among other errors and confusion of
thought prevalent on this subject, Mr Mackenzie will point out what he considers unsound
in the recently published works of Mr Alfred Russell Wallace, and Mr Henry George,
on the Nationalisation of the Land. The Celtic Magazine being entirely non-political,
from a party point of view, we shall be glad to hear all sides, from whatever social
standpoint, on this important subject,
125
AN ANCIENT BRITISH HILL-FORT.
NEAR the south angle of Renfrewshire, in the parish of Mearns, a
rugged and abrupt looking hill called Dun-Carnock — Dun-Carnach
in Gaelic, or Din-Cyrniog in British — stands towering about 400
feet above the subjacent fields. This hill is a remarkable feature
in the landscape, and wears a hoary antiquated aspect. Like its
venerable relation, Dumbarton Rock, it has two summits, the
eastern top being the higher and more narrow one, while the
western end of the hill is flatter and broader, with a perennial
fountain of water in its centre. The huge rocks and boulders
that stand out from the green fallow turf are overgrown with
moss and grey lichens, the accumulation of ages. The ascent to
this lower summit is almost perpendicular, and round the more
accessible portion of its brow are still to be seen the formidable
remains of an ancient wall, curving round what appears to have
been once a strongly fortified area. This wall, as well as the
other relics of art about the hill, points back to a very remote
period, probably to a time anterior to the Norman invasion. It
may be as old as the time of the Roman occupation, and may
have been built by our Caledonian forefathers to defend them-
selves against the hosts of Caesar, and occupied as a convenient
place of rendezvous from which to rush with better effect upon
the daring invaders and drive them out of the country. We may
imagine this to have been a citadel of warriors for many cen-
turies, perhaps at one time a garrison and sallying point of Fingal,
the son of Morni, and his host of heroes, when they defended
Albion of the sounding streams and hoary rocks against the well-
armed forces of the King of the World.
Whatever may have been its particular history, Dun-Carnock
must have been a notorious place of strength and importance to
the early Caledonians that sleep beneath the green sod of this
ancient fort, and under the many cairns and tumuli of the far
spreading strath. And as little or no mention of this place is
made in the history of our country, we may safely presume that
it, in common with Din-Glas and Dun-Briton, was late in yield-
THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
ing, if ever it did, to the persistent and aggressive Saxons, who
sought to make themselves the dominant people over the whole
island.
As a garrison and place of defence, it is well situated, so as
to command a view of all the ample Vale of Clyde, from the roof-
shaped hill of Tintock that stands on the South-eastern horizon,
and from the sloping ranges of Campsie Fells and Kilpatrick
Braes, to the Rock of Dumbarton and the Highland mountains,
that blend with the clouds of the North. Between those extreme
points there are many interesting and remarkable features, and
many of their names are evidently of early British origin, such as
Cathkin, Carnmunnock, Dychmont, Camslang, Glasford, Strath-
aven, Carmvath, Campsie, Glasgow, etc.; and as these British names
occur more frequently in this than in any other district of Southern
Scotland, we may presume that ancient British was spoken in this
region long after it had blended into the Gaelic, or given place to
the Saxon in other parts of South Britain. Yet so closely has
the early British nomenclature clung to the rocks and streams,
hollows and hills of Stratli Chvyd, that we may look upon them
as undying echoes from the past of the rude and hardy race that
dwelt in the woods of Caledonia, when first mentioned in history
by Tacitus; and so characteristic of Wales, are the names of places,
that a Welshman on a tour through the country might easily
fancy himself on a visit to some part of his own Principality.
N. M'NEIL BRODIE.
Halifax, N.S.
ALI-NA-PAIRC. — Having read the anecdote regarding
this local character, which appeared in a recent number, "Mac
Iain" sends us one which is almost equally good. It is as
follows :— Ali went one day into the kitchen at Holme Rose,
where he had often been before and since, and having received a
large bone to pick, he walked outside with it ; for he was too much
of a gentleman to sit in any kitchen to dinner. He went to the
side of a hedge close by, and began to pick his bone, when,
shortly afterwards, Mr Rose happened to pass by, and, on seeing
Ali, said, " Hollo, Ali, are you here ?" " Aye, aye," answered Ali,
"you will speak to me, Mr Rose, when you see that I have some-
thing."
12;
MR WILLIAM JOLLY, HER MAJESTY'S INSPECTOR
OF SCHOOLS.
SUSPICIOUSNESS of strangers, especially if they speak only the
language of the Saxon, was, at times, we fear, characteristic of
the Highland race. It was this trait of our character which Sir
Walter Scott put, perhaps in its most forbidding aspect, in the
mouth of the heroic Amazon, who guarded the Pass at Aberfoyle,
when she demanded of the sycophantic Glasgow Bailie — " What
fellow are you that dare to claim kindred with the Macregor, and
neither wear his dress nor speak his language ? What are you
that have the tongue and the habit of the hound, and yet seek to
lie down with the deer ?" On the other hand, it was, and is no
less true of us, as a people, that we very warmly recognise, and
no less cordially reciprocate, kindness and appreciative sympathy,
when these are extended toward us by those at whose hands we
might have expected different treatment. We yield to none in
the sincerity with which the deepest feelings of our nature express,
when circumstances require it, the sentiment that moved the Jews
of old to plead for blessings on the household of a friendly and
generous alien — " He loveth our nation." We are not sure that
we have always done full justice to our Southern friends in our
doubts, for, after all, we must confess that, while not a few of
the great and the powerful of our own race have proved recreant
to the trust imposed upon them — of providing for the comfort and
happiness of the Highland people — we have had among us many
large-hearted strangers capable of appreciating what is good in
the race, and willing to devote themselves to the task of educat-
ing our people in the exercise and development of the latest
powers and possibilities of their nature. Pre-eminent among these
stands out the name of Professor Blackie, and, perhaps, second
to his, in a quieter though less conspicuous way, is that of Mr
William Jolly, Her Majesty's Inspector of Schools, whose de-
parture from Inverness suggest these reflections.
About fourteen years ago Mr Jolly came among us a com-
plete stranger, familiar with neither our people, our language, nor
128 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
our country. He had not been long in our midst, however, when
he showed that his position here was not to be the cold and per-
functory one of a mere official. With that ardent and enthusias-
tic temperament which is so conspicuous a feature of his charac-
ter, he assiduously and sympathetically devoted himself to the
study of our social condition and capabilities as a people, and the
best methods for rendering effective whatever would tend to the
elevation and social advancement of the Highlanders. Edu-
cation with Mr Jolly meant no mere cramming of the mind with
the dry details of the three R's. It has always been his desire
rather by creating an internal interest in and thirst for know-
ledge to promote to its highest purpose the faculty of self-educa-
tion ; and, while he did not discourage the most minute and care-
ful attention to the ordinary scholastic methods of instruction, he
was ever ready to avail himself of the rich and ready accessories
which surrounding nature afforded. He found " tongues in trees,
books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in
eveiy thing."
Those against the use of the Gaelic language, for the purpose
of conveying instruction in Highland schools, found in Mr Jolly
a most uncompromising opponent, and on more than one occasion,
during his sojourn in the North, he gave unmistakeable utterance
to his sentiments on that question. Specially was this the case
at the annual supper of the Gaelic Society of Inverness in Janu-
ary 1880, when he expressed his strong dissent from views antag-
onistic to the use of the Gaelic language, urged by several of
his brother inspectors in the Highlands. Further, in his official
report to the Education Department, in 1878, he made
special reference to the subject, stating fully his opinion that,
while English ought to receive the first attention as the " lan-
guage of trade, commerce, current literature, and general inter-
course necessary for success in life, and desired by Highlanders
themselves," Gaelic should be used in the oral teaching of Eng-
lish, this being the method which reason and wisdom would sug-
gest, and that it should also be afterwards taught on account of
the importance of Gaelic literature as an instrument of education
and culture to the Gaelic people."
It was not, however, merely in connection with what con-
cerned their specific education that Mr Jolly's large-hearted and
MR WILLIAM JOLLY. 129
kindly solicitude went forth toward the Highland people. Any
movement that tended to their moral and social good found in
him a staunch and active friend. This interest in our country
and people was warmly expressed when, last month, he was pre-
sented with a silver tea service and a purse of sovereigns, as a
token of the respect and esteem in which he was held by all who
came into contact with him, while he went out and in among us.
The presentation was made by Sheriff Blair in choice, appro-
priate, and complimentary language, which found an approving
response in the heart of every one present.
Referring to his appointment fourteen years ago, Mr Jolly
said that he came full of the idea which possessed the minds of
so many Saxons, that he was coming to a " barren country and
wild rocks of culture," but he had to confess heartily and
honestly that his experience had led him to adopt entirely different
views ; and well do his life and work in the North testify to the
fact. He then proceeded : —
" No one knows Scotland that does not know the Celtic por-
tion of it, with all its special problems and special circumstances;
and I am glad to have had opportunities of being on the spot, and
of studying these northern portions of our country, and forming my
own conclusions respecting the different problems it presents, and
the progress effected. The people, the Celtic people, are them-
selves a most remarkable and most interesting part of the com-
munity. Although they are wanting in certain elements of, per-
haps, the moral stamina and sturdy independence of the Saxon,
they have other elements in their character which are wanting in
the Saxon, and which put them on the highest pinnacle of cul-
ture. They are, in spite of recent exhibitions, a law-loving and
a law-abiding people, honest, silent, and careful in their work,
devoted to the domestic circle, willing to live independent lives,
satisfied with little, and, indeed, happy with that little. And they
have certain elements of emotional and other parts of culture
which go to make the true gentleman and the true lady. These
elements, when combined with Saxon sturdiness and Saxon in-
dependence, have largely contributed to make our population
what it is, and have given our culture and our poetry those dis-
tinguishing characteristics for which it is justly admired. I have
had, as Inspector of Schools, opportunities of moving amongst the
1 30 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
people and of observing them, and the opinion which I
have now expressed is a deliberate conviction upon my part.
What I have seen will enable me, in going South, to correct
certain prevalent impressions that are erroneous regarding the
people of the Highlands — impressions formed on special presen-
tations of character which one now and again comes across, but
which do not in any degree give an accurate idea of the people
Highlanders are. I am proud of having an opportunity of
correcting these impressions, and of bearing testimony to
the worth of the Highland people. Questions regarding their
social position have now acquired an importance which they
never had before, and I have no doubt the issue will be a much
greater and a better contentment when there is an adjustment of
certain questions that have now arisen between landlord and
tenant. I think the country is rising to the importance of
improving the condition of the Highlanders in a way it has
never done before ; and I think we shall only be wise, as a people,
when we understand that we ought to have a contented peasantry
in our Highland glens, instead of making these glens other men's
playgrounds, such as some of them are at present."
Our statement would be incomplete did we not make some
reference to Mr Jolly's important labours in the walks of science
and literature. In the work of the local Scientific Society and
Field Club he always manifested the most lively interest, acting
frequently as leader in some department, on occasion of their
summer excursions, and giving the benefit of his varied know-
ledge and experience.
Mr Jolly's contributions to literature, though not numerous,
are of considerable importance. His largest work, that on Edu-
cation, based on the labours of Combe, is a valuable addition to
the already extensive literature of the subject. From his pen
have also come a most interesting little work on "Burns at
Mossgiel;" a life of John Duncan, the Alford botanical weaver,
now in the press ; and various articles on the serial literature of
the country, among them being several papers chiefly on High-
land education, social life and 1'iterature, with which the pages of
the Celtic Magazine have on repeated occasions been enriched.
DEPOPULATION OF THE COUNTY OF ARGYLL.
SOME very extraordinary public utterances were recently made
by two gentlemen closely connected with the County of Argyll,
questioning or attempting to explain away statements made in the
House of Commons by Mr D. H. Macfarlane, M.P., to the effect
that the rural population was, from various causes, fast disappear-
ing from the Highlands. These utterances were, one, by a no
less distinguished person than the Duke of Argyll, who published
his remarkable propositions in the Times ; the other by Mr John
Ramsay, M.P., the Islay distiller, who imposed his baseless as-
sertions on his brother members in the House of Commons.
These oracles should have known better. They must clearly
have taken no trouble whatever to ascertain the facts for them-
selves, or, having ascertained them, kept them back that the
public might be misled on a question with which, it is obvious to
all, the personal interests of both are largely mixed up.
Let us see how the assertions of these authorities agree with
the actual facts. In 1831 the population of the County of Argyll
was 100,973 \ m l$4l it was 97,37 1 ; in 1851 it was reduced to
88,567 ; and in 1881 it was down to 76,468. Of the latter
number the Registrar- General classifies 30,387 as urban, or the
population of " towns and villages," leaving us only 46,081 as the
total rural population of the county of Argyll at the date of the
last census, in 1881.
It will be necessary to keep in mind that in 1831 the county
could not be said to have had many " town and village " in-
habitants— not more than from 12,000 to 15,000 at most
These resided chiefly in Campbelton, Inveraray, and Oban ; and
if we deduct from the total population for that year, numbering
100,973, even the larger estimate, 15,000, of an urban or town
population, we have still left, in 1831, an actual rural population of
85>973> or within a fraction of double the whole>ural population
of the county in 1881. In other words, the rural population of
Argyllshire is reduced in fifty years from 85,973 to 46,081, or
nearly one-half! ."
The increase of the urban or town population is going on at
a fairly rapid rate— Campbelton, Dunoon, Oban, Ballachulish,
I32 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
Blairmorc and Strone, Innellan, Lochgilphead, Tarbet, and
Tighnabruaich, combined, having added no less than some
5 500 to the population of the county in the ten years from 1 87 1
to 1 88 1. These populous places will be found respectively in the
parishes of Campbelton, Lismore and Appin, Dunoon and Kil-
mun, Glassary, Kilcalmonell and Kilberry, and in Kilfinan ; and
this will at once account for the comparatively good figure which
these parishes make in the subjoined tabulated statement. The
table given below will show exactly in which parishes and at
what rate depopulation progressed during the last fifty years.
In many instances the population was larger before 1831 than at
that date, but the years given will generally give us the best
idea of how the matter stood throughout that whole period. The
state of the population given in 1831 was before the famine
which occurred in 1836; while 1841 comes in between that of
1836 and 1846-47, during which period large numbers were
sent away, or left for the Colonies. There was no famine be-
tween 1851 and 1 88 1, a time during which the population was
reduced from 88,567 to 76,468, notwithstanding the great increase
which took place simultaneously in the " town and village " sec-
tion of the people in the county, as well as throughout the
country generally.
Though the subjoined table is not quite so complete as we
shall yet make it, still it will be found of considerable interest
and value, in the face of such absurd and groundless statements as
those to which we have referred, coming from such high authori-
ties ! The table, when completed, will afterwards form one of a
series, applicable to the whole northern counties, in course of
preparation, and similarly arranged, and which is to appear in
the Editor's History of the Highland Clearances, to be issued this
month by the publishers of the Celtic Magazine. We venture
to think that they will not only prove interesting, but really
useful, at a time like this, in helping to remove the dust thrown
for so many years past in the eyes of the public on this question
of Highland depopulation by individuals personally interested in
concealing the actual facts from those who have it in their power
to put an effective check on the few unpatriotic proprietors in the
North who are mainly responsible for 'clearing the country, by
one means or another, for their own selfish ends.
DEPOPULATION OF COUNTY OF ARGYLL. 133
Statement showing Population in 1831, 1841, 1851, and i88iy of
all the Parishes in whole or in part in the County of A rgyll : —
1831 1841 1851 1881
Ardchattan and Muckairn - 2420 — 2264 — 2313 — 2005
Ardnamurchan - - ... — 5581 — 5446 — 4105
Campbelton - - 9472 — 9539 — 9381 — 9755
Craignish - 892 — 970 — 873 — 451
Dunoon and Kilmun - - ... — 2853 — 4518 — 8002
Gigha and Cara - - 534 — 550 — 547 — 382
Glassary - 4054 — 5369 — 4711 — 4348
Glenorchy and Inishail - - 1806 — 831 — 1450 — 1705
Inveraray - - 2233 — 2277 — 2229 — 946
Inverchaolain - 596 — 699 — 474 — 407
Jura and Colonsay - 2205 — 2291 — 1901 — 1343
Kilbrandon and Kilchattan - 2833 — 2602 — 2375 — 1767
Kilcalmonell and Kilberry - ... — 2460 — 2859 — 2304
Kilchoman - - 4822 — 4505 — 4142 — 2547
Kilchrenan and Dalavich - 1096 — 894 — 776 — 504
Kildalton - - 3065 — 3315 — 3310 — 2271
Kilfinan ~ 2004 — lSl6 — I(^95 — 2153
Kilfinichen and Kilviceuen - 3819 — 4102 — 3054 — 1982
Killarrow and Kilmeny - 7105 — 7341 — 4882 — 2756
Killean and Kilchenzie - 2866 — 2401 — 2219 — 1368
Kilmalie • - 4210 -- 5397 - - 5235 — 4157
Kilmartin - - 1475 — 1213 — 1144 — 811
Kilmodan - ••*. 648 — 578 — 500 — 323
Kilmore and Kilbride - - 2836 — 4327 — 3131 — 5142
Kilninian and Kilmore - - ... — 4322 — 3954 — 2540
Kilninver and Kilmelford - 1072 — 970 — 714 — 405
Knapdale, North - - 2583 — 2170— 1666 — 927
Knapdale, South - - 2137 — 1537 — 2178 — 2536
Lismore and Appin - - 4365 — 4193 — 4097 - - 3433
Lochgoilhead and Kilmorich 1196 — noo — 834 — 870
Morvern - 2036 — 1781 — 1547 — 828
Saddell and Skipness - - 2152 — 1798 — 1504 — 1163
Small Isles - - 1015 — 993 — 916 — 550
Southend - - 2120 — 1598 - - 1406 - 955
Strachur and Stralachan - 1083 - - 1086 - 915 — 932
Tiree and Coll \< ^ - 5769 — 6096 — 4818 — 3376
Torosay - ... — 1616 — 1361 - - 1102
A. M,
THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
GENERAL SIR HERBERT MACPHERSON, V.C.,
K.C.B., K.S.I.
IN Sir Herbert Macpherson we are glad to recognise a true born
Highlander, and we feel sure that a few pages of the Celtic Maga-
zine cannot be occupied more fittingly, or in a way more grati-
fying to our readers, than by some short account of his family con-
nections and career.
Sir Herbert's grandfather was James Macpherson, for many
years factor on the Cawdor estates, and tenant of the farm of
Ardersier — a gentleman who, in the early years of the century,
was widely known and highly respected in this district of coun-
try. Mr Macpherson had eight sons, all of whom lived to man-
hood, and served their country in the army or the navy, and in
those stirring times saw much service. When the /8th High-
landers was raised and embodied at Fort-George, two of these
sons raised parties of men for it, and entered it, one afterwards
killed in Java, as captain, and the other, then a mere lad, as en-
sign. The latter, Duncan Macpherson, was the father of Sir
Herbert. He served in the 78th until he rose to the command of
the regiment, which he held for some years, and then, on the
death of his mother, retired from the army, and settled at Arder-
sier, where he and his family lived for a considerable time.
Colonel Macpherson married Miss Campbell, daughter of Mr
Campbell of Fornighty and of his wife, a daughter of Mr Mack-
intosh of Kyllachy, and sister of the famous Sir James Mackin-
tosh. Of this marriage there was a numerous family of sons and
daughters. The eldest was the late Sir James Macpherson,
K.C.B. ; the youngest the subject of the present notice.
Sir Herbert was born at Ardersier, and passed a great part
of his early life there and in the neighbourhood. He received
part of his education at the Nairn Academy, residing, while at-
tending that school, with an aunt, who was widow of Dr Smith,
the assistant-surgeon of the " Victory" at the Battle of Trafalgar,
and one of the attendants on Lord Nelson at his death. Family
SIR HERBERT MACPHERSON. 135
history, early association, and personal predilection, all combined
to point to the army as the proper career for Herbert Macpherson,
but devoid of money and of influence, and with nothing to point
to in support of his application for a Commission but the services
of his father and his uncles, it seemed for a long time very un-
likely that the application would be successful. In 1844, having
almost despaired of obtaining a Commission, he went into an
office in London, but at that time the /8th, which was stationed
in Scinde, was attacked by an epidemic of cholera so violent that
there were fears that the regiment would be annihilated. On
the intelligence reaching this country young Macpherson waited
himself on Lord Fitzroy Somerset, then Adjutant-General, and
specially asked for a Commission in the 78th. Lord Fitzroy was
so pleased with the pluck of the young man in asking for a Com-
mission in what then seemed to be a doomed regiment that he pro-
mised the granting of his request. He was gazetted an Ensign
on the 26th of February 1845, anc* soon after joined the regiment.
He obtained his Lieutenancy in January 1848; soon after became
Adjutant of his regiment, and soon obtained the reputation of
being one of the smartest Adjutants in India. He had also the
reputation of being one of the best riders and keenest sportsmen.
In 1855 he was stationed with his regiment at Aden, and going
on a hunting expedition into the interior with two friends the
party were attacked at night by assassins in the hut in which they
were sleeping. Macpherson was awakened by the groans of one
of his companions, who was mortally wounded, and springing up
he rushed at a man whom he could only see dimly in the imper-
fect light. On trying to grapple with his antagonist, he found
that he was naked, and that his body was smeared with oil, so
that it was impossible to hold him, and after a fearful struggle
the ruffian made his escape, leaving Macpherson senseless, and
with eight fearful wounds on his body. Thanks to a good con-
stitution, however, he soon recovered.
The first military service in which Sir Herbert was employed
was with his regiment in the Persian War of 1856-7, under Sir
James Outram, the regiment being in the brigade commanded by
Sir Henry Havelock. He was engaged in all the fighting in this
campaign, and for it he has a medal and clasp. By the time the
regiment returned to India the Mutiny had broken out, and on
I36 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
arrival at Calcutta the regiment was at once sent on under Sir
Henry Havelock on his glorious march, or rather progress of
battles, to the relief of Lucknow. In Havelock's final fight,
when he entered the Residency, Macpherson won the proudest
and most coveted destinction of a soldier, the Victoria Cross.
When with his regiment he was making his way through the
city, fire was opened on them from some guns in a cross street ;
for an instant the regiment hesitated, but the gallant Adjutant,
collecting one or two men, charged the guns, cut down the
gunners, and silenced them, and for this deed of daring he bears
the Victoria Cross. He was one of the first to reach the de-
fences of the Residency, and might have been the first man to enter
it, but as his regiment was then under a hot fire he preferred to
remain with, and encourage, his men. As it was he crossed the
ditch alongside of the gallant General Niel, who there fell by his
side. After the first relief of the Residency the 78th was quartered
at the Alumbaugh, and in the final relief Macpherson acted as
Brigade-Major in the force under the command of Sir Colin
Campbell. In 1857 he became a Captain, in 1858 a Brevet-
Major, and when his regiment was ordered home he accepted the
option which was then offered him of exchanging into the Bengal
Staff Corps, and was appointed by Lord Clyde to the command
of a Ghoorka regiment. In command of this regiment he saw
much service in Hugara, in the Looshai expedition, in lowaki,
and in some of the cold weather manoeuvres he earned the repu-
tation of an able tactician and strategist. When Lord Beacons-
field formed his famous resolution to astonish the world by calling
an army from the East to correct the balance of power in the
West, Macpherson was one of the distinguished batch of Victoria
Cross men who were chosen for Divisional and Brigade commands,
and who, much to their disappointment, found that they had
been brought not to fight but to take part in a theatrical spectacle,
He returned to the command of his regiment, but was soon called
into the field in command of a brigade under Sir Samuel Brown
in the first advance into Afghanistan. The first duty assigned
to him and his brigade was a march by mountain tracks, so as to
get in rear of Ali Musjid, and cut off the retreat of the garrison
if they should attempt to escape when the fort was attacked by
Sir S. Brown. Macpherson remonstrated against the orders,
SIR HERBERT MACPHERSON. 137
pointing out that the time allowed him to accomplish the march
was insufficient, but without effect, and like a good soldier he set
himself to do his best The difficulties of the march were
incredible, great part of it being accomplished by night over
tracks where men could only march in single file, and the light
mountain guns had to be taken to pieces and lowered over preci-
pices by ropes. He accomplished his task, however, within the
time allotted to him, but only to find that a demonstration having
been made against the fort a day sooner than had been arranged,
it was evacuated fully twelve hours before he was informed the
attack would take place, and he arrived in the Valley of the
Kyber only in time to catch sight of the rear guard of the re-
treating garrison as his weary brigade were threading their way
down the hills. It is said that in sheer vexation he rode after
the enemy himself, and fired his pistols at them as a challenge.
In the whole operations of this campaign he bore a prominent
part, and for his services was created a C.B., and when, after the
murder of Cavignari, a force was again sent to Cabul under
General Roberts, he was again chosen to command a Brigade.
When the rising of the Afghans took place, which ultimately
forced General Roberts to take shelter in the Cantonments of
Sherpore, Macpherson with his brigade, consisting of Ghoorkas
and the Q2nd Highlanders, supported by a body of cavalry, was
sent out some miles to intercept and defeat in detail two bodies
of Afghans who. were advancing in different directions with the
purpose of forming a junction. He advanced to the junction of
the roads by which the enemy were supposed to be advancing,
leaving, according to orders, the cavalry some miles in his rear.
He encountered and completely defeated one body of the enemy,
when hearing firing some miles from him, where he had no reason
to believe that any of our troops were, with the instinct of a
soldier he guessed that something was wrong, and marched
rapidly in the direction of the sound, firing salvos with his artillery
to show that he was coming. He arrived at the scene of action
only to find that his cavalry, which, without his knowledge, had
been withdrawn by the orders of General Roberts, had attacked
and been defeated by a body of the enemy, and had retreated,
and he could just see the enemy in full march on Cabul. He at
once pursued, and managed to throw himself between the enemy
i38 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
and the city and cantonments, and thereby in all probability
saved the army from disaster. He remained for several days out-
side the cantonments constantly engaged with the enemy, and
his brigade was the last to be withdrawn into the cantonments.
When at last he received the order to bring in his brigade, he
found that he had to accomplish a march of several miles over
open ground with his flank exposed to an enemy in overwhelm-
ing numbers and flushed with success, but this difficult operation
he accomplished with brilliant success, bringing in all his baggage
and wounded men under incessant attack, some of his men being
killed within a few yards of the entrenchment
In all the subsequent operations he bore a prominent part.
He was with General Roberts in the famous march to Candahar,
and in the final battle he and his Ghoorkas and Highlanders
bore the principal part. Succeeding in his first attack, and tak-
ing advantage of the emulous enthusiasm of the two races of
Highlanders, he pushed on without waiting for supports, and was
able to signal the capture of the enemy's camp to General
Roberts long before that General expected that it would take
place. For his services in this campaign he was created a K.C.B.,
and on his visiting Inverness two years ago, the Capital of the
Highlands and of his. native county, recognised his merit, and
manifested the satisfaction of the community in his success as a
Highland soldier by conferring on him the Freedom of the Burgh.
On his return to India he was appointed to the Divisional
command at Allahabad, and when it was resolved to send a con-
tingent from India to co-operate with the army in Egypt, he was,
with the loudly expressed approval of the Indian Army, chosen
for the command. What occurred in Egypt is so recent that it is
unnecessary to dwell on it in detail. The Indian Contingent
was composed of native infantry and cavalry regiments, of the
72nd Regiment— the First Battalion of Seaforth Highlanders— and,
no doubt, to the great satisfaction of General Macpherson, of two
companies of the Second Battalion— the old ;8th— to which his
own son, a boy who only entered the army a few months before,
was attached. Considering the delay which was caused by the
deficiency of transport for the troops which went from this coun-
try, it is well worthy of record that the Indian troops left India
o perfectly equipped that they could have landed anywhere, and
SIR HERBERT MACPHERSON. 139
marched anywhere, without any transport but what they brought
with them, and that the first railway engine available on the line
from Ismailia to Tel-el-Kebir was one which the Indian Contin-
gent had brought from Bombay. Three days after the last of
the Indian troops reached Ismailia, Sir Herbert's brigade marched
for Kassassin, which it reached on the following day. After a
rest, it crossed the Canal, and on the following morning it took
its part in the famous Battle of Tel-el-Kebir. It is to be noticed
that the part assigned to the contingent was the attack of the
Egyptians on the south side of the Canal, that they were ordered
not to advance till some time after the troops on the north side,
and that in consequence they were discovered by the enemy when
they were still 1 500 yards from them. Ovej- this distance, led by
the Highlanders, they advanced under fire of artillery strongly
posted, and, at last, receiving the order from the General to
" Rush" the guns, they charged with the bayonet into the battery,
and bayoneted the gunners who did not take flight. Advancing
along the south side of the Canal, driving the enemy before him, Sir
Herbert met General Wolseley at the bridge beyond the enemy's
camp. Sir Garnet enquired whether his brigade was able to march
to Zagazig, as none of the other troops were. He was at once
answered in the affirmative, and without rest or refreshment, save
the biscuits which they carried in their haversacks, they started on
their march of thirty miles through the desert in the blazing heat
of an Egyptian sun. About three o'clock Sir Herbert and his
staff, accompanied by only 30 Indian troopers, rode into Zagazig
and, riding at once to the Railway Station, succeeded in captur-
ing five trains filled with armed men, who were about to
start for Cairo, the soldiers either throwing down their arms and
running away, or surrendering. The infantry arrived an hour or
two later, not a man having fallen out. Immediately on his
arrival at Zagazig, Sir Herbert telegraphed to the Governor of
Cairo that he was there with his whole Brigade, and would be in
Cairo next day ; and it is believed that the intelligence of his
extraordinary march did more to' paralyse the enemy, and render
complete the victory of Tel-el-Kebir, than any other event in the
campaign. On the following morning a party of Highlanders
were in a train ready and eager to start for Cairo, which they
would have been the first to reach, when orders were telegraphed
i4o THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
from Sir Garnet that they were not to proceed, the reason being,
it is understood, that it was thought necessary the Guards should
do something, and the Highlanders, who had got the start of
them, were kept back, that they might be the first troops to
enter Cairo. For his services in Egypt, Sir Herbert has been
created a Knight of the Star of India.
Such is a short sketch of the services of the gallant soldier,
who, as we go to press, is again among us and about to be
honoured by his fellow-burgesses, by the presentation to him by the
Town Council, in name of the community, of a Highland claymore,
with appropriate inscription, and by entertaining him to a public
banquet under the patronage of the Provost, Magistrates, and
Town Council. His career is not by any means without pre-
cedent, but it is one of which all of his race may well be proud.
Without fortune or influence, by steady adherence to duty, by
doing bravely and well whatever it came in his way to do, he has
literally fought his way into the front rank of soldiers — shown
himself to be fit for any command, and to be, as Sir Garnet
Wolseley has described him, " a pillar of strength to any army
with which he may be connected." He shows once more that
" The path of duty is the way to glory."
M.A.R.S.
FIRST HIGHLAND EMIGRATION TO NOVA SCOTIA:
ARRIVAL OF THE SHIP " HECTOR."
ON Friday evening, the 8th December last, Mr Alexander Mac-
kenzie, Editor of the Celtic Magazine, delivered, in Buckie, one of
a serious of lectures arranged every winter under the auspices of
the Buckie Literary Institution, a thriving Association, for the
success of which a West Coast Highlander, Mr John Macdonald,
banker, deserves a large portion of credit. The lecture was en-
titled " A Tour in Canada, from Cape Breton to Niagara." The
portion of it which refers to the arrival of the ship " Hector" with
the first cargo of Highlanders, numbering about two hundred souls,
and a few incidents in their after experience may prove interesting
to the reader. There were only sixteen families in the settle-
FIRST HIGHLAND EMIGRATION, 141
ment on the arrival of these pioneers, and these were soon after-
wards reduced to five. The Lecturer proceeded : —
The arrival of the ship Hector, in 1773, was the first, as well as the most im-
portant, event in the history of Highland emigration, or indeed of any emigration to
the Lower Provinces of British North America. The Hector was engaged in this
traffic for several years, and brought out, in 1770, a band of Scottish emigrants. She
belonged to Mr Pagan, a Greenock merchant, and landed a band of Scots in Boston,
in that year. This Pagan and a Dr Witherspoon bought three shares of land in
Pictou, and they engaged a Mr John Ross as their agent to accompany the Hector to
Scotland, to bring out as many colonists as possible. To these they offered a free
passage, a farm, and a year's free provisions. Ross arrived in Scotland with the
vessel, and drew a glowing picture of the land and of the other manifold advantages
to be found in the new country. The Highlanders knew nothing of the difficulties
awaiting them in a land covered over with a dense unbroken forest, and, tempted by
the prospect of owning splendid farms of their own, they were imposed upon, and
many of them agreed to accompany him across the Atlantic. Calling first at Greenock,
three families and five single young men joined the vessel at that port. She then
sailed to Lochbroom, in Ross-shire, where she received 33 families and 25 single men,
the whole of her passengers numbering about 200 souls. This band, in the beginning
of July I773> bade a final farewell to their native land, not a soul on board having
ever crossed the Atlantic, except a single sailor and John Ross, the agent. As they
were leaving, a piper came on board whg had not paid his passage; the captain
ordered him ashore, but the strains of the national instrument affected those on board
so much that they pleaded to have him allowed to accompany them, and offered to
share their own rations with him, in exchange for his music, during the passage.
Their request was granted, and his performance aided in no small degree to cheer the
noble band of pioneers in their long voyage of eleven weeks, in a miserable hulk,
across the Atlantic. The pilgrim band kept up their spirits, as best they could, by
song, pipe music, dancing, wrestling, and other amusements, through the long and
painful voyage. The ship was so rotten that the passengers could pick the wood out
of her sides with their fingers. They met with a severe gale off the Newfoundland
coast, and were driven back so far that it took them about fourteen days to get again
to the point where the gale first met them. The accommodation was wretched.
Smallpox and dysentery broke out among the passengers. Eighteen of the children
died, and were committed to the deep, amidst such anguish and heart-rending agony
as only a Highlander can fully appreciate. Their stock of provisions became ex-
hausted, the water became scarce and bad, the remnant of provisions left consisted
mainly of salt meat, which, from the scarcity of water, added greatly to their suffer-
ings. The oatcake, carried by them, became mouldy, so that much of it was thrown
away before they dreamt of having such a long passage ; but, fortunately for them, one
of the passengers, Hugh Macleod, more prudent than the others, gathered up the de-
spised scraps into a bag, and during the last few days of the voyage his fellows were
glad to join him in devouring this refuse to keep soul and body together. At last,
however, on the I5th of September, the Hector dropped anchor in the harbour, op-
posite where the town of Pictou now stands. Though the Highland dress was then
proscribed at home, this emigrant band carried theirs along with them, and, in cele-
bration of their arrival, many of the younger men donned their national dress — to
which a few of them were able to add the Sgian Dubh and the claymore — while the
I42 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE,
piper blew up his pipes with might and main, its thrilling tones, for the first time,
startling the denizens of the endless forest, and its echoes resounding through the
wild solitude. The stream of Scottish emigration which flowed in after years, not
only over Pictou, but over the greater portion of the Eastern Province of Nova Scotia,
Cape Breton, Prince Edward Island, portions of New Brunswick, and even the Upper
Provinces of Canada, began with the arrival of the Hector; for those who came in
her, in after years, communicated with their friends and induced them to join; and
the stream continued to deepen and widen ever since. The Scottish immigrants are
admitted upon all hands to have given its backbone of moral and religious strength to
the Province, and to those brought over from the Highlands in this vessel is due the
honour of being in the forefront— the pioneers and vanguard.
But how different was the reality to the expectations of these poor creatures,
led by the plausibility of the emigration agent, to expect free estates on their arrival.
The whole scene, as far as the eye could see, was a dense forest. They crowded on
the deck to take stock of their future home, and their hearts sank within them. They
were landed without the provisions promised them, and without shelter of any kind,
and were only able by the aid of those few who were there before them, to erect
camps of the rudest and most primitive description, to shelter their wives and their
children from the elements. Their feelings of disappointment were most bitter, when
they compared the actual facts with the free farms and the comfort promised them by
the lying emigration agent. Many of them sat down in the forest and wept bitterly ;
hardly any provisions were possessed by the few who were before them, and what
there was among them was soon devoured, making all — old and new comers — almost
destitute. It was now too late to raise any crops that year. To make matters worse,
they were sent some three miles into the forest, so that they could not even take
advantage, with the same ease, of any fish that might be caught in the harbour. The
whole thing appeared an utter mockery. To unskilled men the work of clearing
seemed hopeless ; they were naturally afraid of the Red Indian and of the wild beasts
of the forest ; without roads or paths, they were frightened to move for fear of getting
lost in the unbroken forest. Can we wonder that, in such circumstances, they refused
to settle on the company's lands ? though, in consequence, when provisions arrived,
the agents refused to give them any. Ross and the company quarrelled, and he ulti-
mately left the new-comers to their fate. The few of them who had a little money
bought what provisions they could from the agents, while others, less fortunate,
exchanged their clothes for food ; but the greater number had neither money nor
clothes to spend or exchange, and they were all left quite destitute. Thus driven to
extremity, they determined to have the provisions retained by the agents, right or
wrong, and two of them went to claim them. They were positively refused, but they
determined to take what they could by force. They seized the agents, tied them, took
their guns from them, which they hid at a distance ; told them that they must have
the food for their families, but that they were quite willing and determined to pay for
them, if ever they were able to do so. They then carefully weighed, or measured,
the various articles, took account of what each man received and left, except one, a
powerful and determined fellow, who was left behind to release the two agents.
This he did, after allowing sufficient time for his friends to get to a safe distance, and
he informed the prisoners where they could find their guns. Intelligence was sent to
Halifax that the Highlanders were in rebellion, from whence orders were sent to a
Captain Archibald in Truro, to march his company of militia to suppress and pacify
the rebels ; but to his honour be it said, he, point blank, refused, and sent word that
FIRST HIGHLAND EMIGRATION. 143
he would 'do no such thing. I know the Highlanders,' he said, 'and if they are
fairly treated there will be no trouble with them.' Finally, orders were given to
supply them with provisions, and Mr Paterson, one of the agents, it is said, used after-
wards to say that the Highlanders who arrived in poverty, and who had been so badly
treated, had paid him every farthing with which he had trusted them.
It would be tedious to describe the sufferings which they afterwards endured.
Many of them left. Others, fathers, mothers, and children, bound themselves away
as virtual slaves in other settlements for a mere subsistence. Those who remained
lived in small huts, covered only with the bark or branches of trees to shelter them
from the bitter winter cold, of the severity of which they had no previous conception.
They had to walk some eighty miles, through a trackless forest in deep snow to Truro,
to obtain a few bushels of potatoes, or a little flour in exchange for their labour,
dragging them back all the way on their backs. A man by the name of Hugh Fraser,
after having exhausted every means of procuring food for his starving family, resorted
to the desperate expedient of cutting down a birch tree and boiling the buds for his
little ones. On another occasion a small supply of potatoes, which had been brought
from a long distance for seed, were planted, but the family were so severely pinched
that they had to dig up some of the splits and eat them after they were planted.
Various other incidents of hardships experienced by the same family— and that one of
the families who had brought some means with them — will give an idea of the horrors
endured by these pioneers for the first few years after their arrival. The remem-
brance of these terrible days sank deep into the minds of that generation, and long
after, even to this day, the narration of the scenes and cruel hardships through which
they had to pass, beguiled, and now beguiles, many a winter's night as they sit by
their now comfortable firesides.
In the following spring they set to work, and soon improved their position.
They cleared some of the forest, and planted a larger crop. They learned to hunt the
moose, a kind of large deer. They began to cut timber, and sent a cargo from Pictou
— the first of a trade very profitably and extensively carried on ever since. The
population had, however, grown less than it was before their arrival ; for in this year
it amounted only to 78 persons. The produce raised was 269 bushels of wheat, 13 of
rye, 56 of peas, 36 of barley, 100 of oats, and 340 Ibs. of flax. The farm stock con-
sisted of 13 oxen, 13 cows, 15 young neat cattle, 25 sheep, and one pig. One of the
modes of laying up a supply of food for the winter was to dig up a large quantity of
clams, or large oysters, pile them in large heaps on the sea shore, and then cover
them over with sand, though they were often, in winter, obliged to cut through ice
more than a foot thick to get at them.
This narrative will give a fair idea of the hardships experienced by the earlier
emigrants to Nova Scotia, though in some cases matters were not quite so bad. In
Prince Edward Island, however, a colony from Lockerbie, in Dumfries-shire, who
came out in 1774, seemed to have fared even worse. They commenced operations
on the Island with fair prospects of success, when a visitation or plague of locusts, or
field mice, broke out, and consumed everything, even the potatoes in the ground ; and
for eighteen months the settlers experienced all the miseries of a famine, having for
several months only what lobsters or shell-fish they could gather on the sea-shore.
The winter brought them to such a state of weakness that they were unable to convey
food a reasonable distance, even when they had means to buy it.
In this pitiful position they heard that the Pictou people were making progress,
and that they had some provisions to spare. They sent one of their number to make
144 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
enquiry- One of the American settlers, when he came to Pictou, brought a few slaves
with him, and at this time, he had just been to Truro to sell one of them, and brought
home some provisions with the proceeds of the sale of the negro. The messenger
from Prince Edward Island was putting up at this man's house. He was a bit of a
humourist, and continued cheerful in spite of all his troubles. On his return to the
Island, the people congregated to hear the news. 'What kind of place is Pictou?'
enquired one. ' Oh, an awful place. Why, I was staying with a man who was just
eating the last of his nigger ;' and the poor creatures were reduced to such a point
themselves that they actually believed the people of Pictou to be in such a con-
dition as to oblige them to live on the flesh of their coloured servants. They
were told, however, that matters were not quite so bad as that, and fifteen families
left Prince Edward Island for the earlier settlement, where, for a time, they fared
little better, but afterwards became prosperous and happy. A few of their children,
and thousands of their grandchildren, are now living in comfort and plenty. But who
can think of these early hardships and cruel existences without condemning the cruel
and heartless Highland and Scottish lairds, who made existence at home almost as
miserable for those noble fellows, and who then drove them in thousands out of their
native land, not caring one iota whether they sank in the Atlantic, or were starved to
death on a strange and uncongenial soil ? Retributive justice demands that posterity
should execrate the memories of the authors of such misery and horrid cruelty. It
may seem uncharitable to speak thus of the dead ; but it is impossible to forget their
inhuman conduct, though, no thanks to them — cruel tigers in human form — it has
turned out for the better, for the descendants of those who were -banished to what
was then infinitely worse than transportation for the worst crimes. Such criminals
were looked after and cared for ; but those poor fellows, driven out of their homes by
the Highland lairds, and sent across yonder, were left to starve, helpless and uncared
for. Their descendants are now a prosperous and thriving people, and retribution is
at hand. The descendants of the evicted from Sutherland, Ross, Inverness shires,
and elsewhere, to Canada, are producing enormous quantities of food, and millions
of cattle, to pour them into the old country. What will be the consequence ? The
sheep-farmer— the primary and original cause of the evictions — has already suffered.
The price of stock in Scotland must inevitably fall. Rents must follow, and the joint
authors of the original iniquity will, as a class, now suffer the natural and just penalty
of their past misconduct.
What has been said of those who first colonised Pictou may also, with, equal
truth, be said of the whole of the Provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
They, however, soon got over the first difficulties in the New World, and rapidly
became prosperous, as they gradually cleared the forest and brought the land under
the plough.
The whole of Nova Scotia is exceedingly rich in minerals, especially the district
round Pictou, where we have the thickest seam of coal in the world, being for 33 to
40 feet deep, and only 212 feet under the surface. There are about 1600 miners
regularly employed in the Pictou mines alone. The coal area of the Province is esti-
mated at 9000 square miles. Pictou town has a population of between three and four
thousand souls, while the country has some thirty-five thousand, of whom about thirty-
two thousand are Protestants of the bluest type. The whole Presbytery kept out
of the Union of all the Presbyterian bodies in Canada a few years ago.
THE
CELTIC MAGAZINE.
CONDUCTED BY
ALEXANDER MACKENZIE, F.S.A., Scot.
No. LXXXVIII. FEBRUARY 1883. VOL. VIII.
THE HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS.
By the EDITOR.
IV.
XII. EWEN CAMERON, commonly known among his own
countrymen as "Eoghainn MacAilein," succeeded his father, and
became one of the most distinguished Highland chiefs of his time.
He formed a marriage alliance (his second) with Mackintosh,
mainly with the view of bringing about more amicable relations
between the two families. In this he was disappointed; their
feuds became, if possible, more intense than ever ; more sanguin-
ary battles were fought between them, much to the loss and de-
triment of both parties; but in the end, the Camerons, under
their vigorous, judicious, and brave chief, proved quite able to
hold their own against the Mackintoshes.
In 1491 Ewen joined Alexander of Lochalsh, with the Clan
Ranalds of Garmoran, and of Lochaber, and the Clan Chattan, in
his famous raid to the county of Ross, which ended in the forfeiture
of the Earldom of Ross and Lordship of the Isles. Advancing from
Lochaber to Badenoch, where the Mackintoshes joined them, and
thence to Inverness, where they stormed the Royal Castle, Mack-
K
I46 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
intosh placing a garrison in it. They afterwards proceeded
across Kessock Ferry, and plundered the lands of Sir Alexander
Urquhart, Sheriff of Cromarty, from which they carried away a
large booty. The details of this expedition are already known to
the readers who have perused the History of the Mackenzie* and
the History of the Macdonalds and Lords of the Isles, and need
not be further commented upon at present. The Lords of Loch-
alsh appear at this time to have had strong claims upon the
Camerons to follow them in the field ; for the former were supe-
riors, under the Lord of the Isles, of the lands of Lochiel in
Lochaber,* in addition to the claims of a close marriage alliance,
for, according to Hugh Macdonald, the Sleat historian, Alexander
of Lochalsh gave Ewen, Captain of Clan Cameron, who suc-
ceeded his father, Allan, as heritable keeper of the Castle of Strome
in Lochcarron, one of his sisters in marriage. In 1492 the Lord
of Lochalsh styles himself also of Lochiel. On the 29th of July in
the same year "Alexander of the Isles, of Lochalch, and Lochiel,
granted to Ewen, the son of Alan, the son of Donald, captain of
the Clancamroun, the lands of Cray, Salchan, Banwe, Corpach,
Kilmalzhe, Achedo, Anat, Achetiley, Drumfermalach, Fanmoyr-
mell, Fassefarn, Corebeg,Owechan,Aychetioldowne,Chanloychiel,
Kowilknap, Drumnassall, Clachak, and Clochfyne, in Locheil." f
In the following August he obtained another charter, from the
same Lord of Lochalsh, of the thirty merklands of Lochiel. In
1494, James IV. confirmed to John MacGilleon of Lochbuy the
lands granted to him [in Lochiel] in 1461 by John, Lord of the
Isles, by whom they had been forfeited to the King. On the 24th
of October 1495, the same king confirmed to Ewen, the son of
Alan, the lands granted to him in 1492 by Alexander of the
Isles. Under elate of 1520, Ewen appears again on record in the
Argyll inventory. In 1522 the lands of Banvy and others in
Lochiel, included in the grant of 1461, were resigned by Maclean
of Lochbuy, and then granted by James V. to Sir John Camp-
bell of Calder. This grant was confirmed in 1526. Two years
later the same lands were resigned by Calder, and granted by the
same king to Colin, Earl of Argyll. In 1528 Ewen Cameron
* Reg. of Great Seal, vi. 116; xiii., 203. Gregory, p. 59.
Origines Parochiahs Scotiae; Reg. of Great Seal, and Argyll Charters.
HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS. 147
resigned to the King the thirty merklands of Lochiel, as specified
in the grant of 1492, and these, with other lands at the same time
resigned by Ewen, the King granted him anew, incorporating the
whole into the Barony of Lochicl. In the same year the King
granted the same lands, apparently, to John Maclean of Coll. In
1531. E\ven Alanson appears on record in the Register of the
. Great Seal as " Captain of the parentela of Clancameroun." In
1536 Donald is mentioned, in the same record, as Ewen's heir.
In 1539 Ewen resigned the thirty merklands of Lochiel, and
James V. *at once re-granted these lands to him in life-rent, and
to his grandson, Ewen Cameron, in heritage ; his eldest son,
Donald above referred to, having in the meantime died, during
his father's lifetime. Ewen Alanson appears again on record in
1541, and in 1546 Queen Mary granted to the Earl of Huntly
the escheat of certain lands which heritably belonged to Ewen
Alanson of Lochiel, including the lands of Lochiel, and the place
and fortalice of Torcastle, in the Lordship of Lochaber. In 1553
the Queen granted the lands to the same earl, these having been
" forfeited by Ewen Allansoun of Locheill for the crimes of
treason and lese majesty."
The following lands were, in 1492, granted by Alexander
of the Isles of Lochalsh to Ewen, the son of Alan, Captain of
Clan Cameron, namely, the two merklands of Achandarrach and
Lundie ; two of Fernaig-mhor ; two of Cuil-mhor and Acha-
more ; two of Fernaig Bheag, " Fudanamine" and "Acheache;"
two of Acha-na-Connlaich and Braintrath ; two of "Culthnok,"
Ach-na-cloich, Blar-garbh, and Acheae ; and two merklands of
Avernish and Wochterory [PAuchtertyre] in Lochalsh. These —
fourteen merklands in all — were confirmed to him by James IV.
in 1495. In 1528 they were resigned by Ewen Alanson, and
"for his good service" they were erected by the king into a por-
tion of the Barony of Lochiel. These Lochalsh lands were in-
cluded in the resignation of 1539, and in the re-grant to Ewen and
his grandson in the same year. A portion of Ewen's possessions
in Lochalsh were afterwards, in 1 548, granted by Queen Mary to
John Grant of Culcabock, near Inverness, they having been
apprised in his favour for the sum of £758. I2s. id., as satisfac-
tion for a "spulzie" committed on his lands by Ewen Cameron
and others. The lands thus apprised included Achandarrach
I48 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
and Lundic, Fernaig - mhor, Fernaig - bheag, Fynnyman, and
Achacroy, making in all five merks out of the fourteen. The
remaining nine merks were similarly apprised to John Grant of
Freuchie, with other twelve merks in the vicinity, the property
of Alastair Maclan MacAlastair of Glengarry; as also twelve
merks, being the hereditary fee of his son, Angus, all of which
had been apprised for the sum of £10,770. 133. 4d. for satisfac-
tion of a "spulzie" committed by Glengarry, his son, and their
accomplices.* These lands do not appear to have returned to
the Camerons, but were afterwards held for a time by Glengarry,
in right of his wife, Margaret de Insulis, daughter of Alexander,
Lord of Lochalsh.
In 1496 Ewen Cameron of Lochiel, Hector Maclean of
Duart, John Macian of Ardnamurchan, Allan MacRuari of Moy-
dart, and Donald Angusson of Keppoch, appeared before the Lords
of Council, and bound themselves, "by the extension of their
lands," to the Earl of Argyll on behalf of the King, to abstain
from mutual injuries and molestations, under a penalty of ^"500. f
Ewen of Lochiel, Macleod of Dunvegan, and Maclean of
Duart, were the first Highland chiefs to join Donald Dubh of the
Isles in his attempt to gain the Island Lordship, and for his share
in this rebellion Lochiel was, in 1504, forfeited as a traitor, but he
seems soon after to have again got into favour at Court.
In 1514 an Act of Council was passed, appointing persons
of influence in the Highlands to take charge of particular divi-
sions of the northern counties as Lieutenants. Ewen Cameron
of Lochiel and William Mackintosh of Mackintosh were ap-
pointed guardians in this capacity in Lochaber.
About 1524 Sir John Campbell of Calder, whose patrimony
lay in Lorn, acquired, from Maclean of Lochbuy, certain claims,
which that gentleman had hitherto made without effect to the
lands of Lochiel, Duror, and Glencoe. Sir John made good use
of the position and opportunities which possession of these claims
had secured to him. At first he was violently resisted by the
Camerons and Stewarts, the occupants of the lands in question,
and suffered many injuries from them in the course of this dis-
But, by transferring his title to these lands to his brother
* Reg. Mag. Sig.
fthe Lord of Council, vii. vo. 39, quoted by Gregory.
HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS. 149
Argyll, and employing the influence of that nobleman, Calder
succeeded in establishing a certain degree of authority over the
unruly inhabitants, in a mode then of very frequent occurrence.
Ewen Allanson of Lochiel, and Allan Stewart of Duror, were, by
the arbitration of friends, ordered to pay to Calder a large sum
of damages, and, likewise, to give him, for themselves, their child-
ren, kin, and friends, their bond of man-rent and service against
all manner of men, except the King and the Earl of Argyll. In
consideration of these bonds of service, three-fourths of the dam-
ages awarded were remitted by Calder, who became bound also
to give his bond of maintenance in return. Finally, if the said
Ewen and Allan should do good service to Sir John in helping
him to obtain and enjoy lands and possessions, they were to be
rewarded by him therefor, at the discretion of the arbiters.*
According to the family seanachie, Ewen invaded the coun-
try of the Mackays in the far north. " What the quarrel was,"
he says, " I know not, but it drew on an invasion from the
Camerons, and an engagement wherein the Mackays were de-
feated, and the Laird of Foulis, chief of the Monroes, who assisted
them, killed on the spot." The same writer continues — "Hitherto
Lochiel had success in all his attempts. The vigour of his genius
and courage bore him through all his difficulties. He had a
flourishing family and an opulent fortune, but the death of his
eldest son, Donald, which happened about this time, plunged him
into so deep a melancholy that he, on a sudden, resolved to give
up the world, and apply himself to the works of religion and
peace. To expiate for his former crimes he set out on a pil-
grimage to Rome, but, arriving in Holland, he found himself
unable to bear up against the fatigue of so long a journey, and,
therefore, he sent one Macphail, a priest, who was his chaplain
and confessor, to do that job for him with the Pope. One part
of the penance enjoined upon him by his Holiness was to build
six chapels to as many saints, which he performed. Some of
them are still extant, and the ruins of the rest are yet to be seen
in Lochaber and the bordering countries. He also built a castle
on the banks of the River Lochy, called Tor Castle, from the
rock on which it was situated. Mackintosh afterwards de-
* Gregory, pp. 126-127,
,-0 T11K CELTIC MAGAZINE.
signed himself by this castle, because it was built upon the
grounds in dispute. However, it became the seat of the
family of Lochiel, till it was demolished by Sir Ewen Cameron,
with the view of building a more convenient house." Ewen's
eldest son and heir, Donald, appears to have been a man
of great promise, and his father gave him, what was con-
sidered in those days, a very liberal education, and he "soon
came to have a relish for the elegancies and politenesses of
society. His father's estate was such as enabled him to live
in a rank equal to any of the young chiefs, his contemporaries,
and his own behaviour soon got him a character among the
courtiers. But the person with whom he contracted the most
intimate friendship was George, the fourth Earl of Huntly. This
Lord was then a young man, in so great a reputation at
Court, that his Majesty honoured him with the government of
the kingdom, during a voyage of gallantry that he made to the
Court of France, in August 1535, in order to marry Magdalen,
the eldest daughter of France, to whom he had been formerly be-
trothed. So much was Donald in favour with that Earl that he
complimented him with a valuable estate conterminous with his
own, and lying eastward of the lake and river of Lochy. The
charter is given by George, Earl of Huntly, to the Honourable
Donald Cameron, son, and heir apparent, to Ewen Cameron, alias
Allanson, of Lochiel, of the lands of Letterfinlay, Stronabaw, and
Lyndaly, lying within the lordship of Lochaber, and sheriffdom
of Inverness. The holding is blench, and bears date, at Edin-
burgh, 1 6th February, 1 534." Donald, who died before his father,
was married to Anne, daughter of Sir James Grant of Grant,
by whom he had two sons, Ewen and Donald, both of whom
respectively succeeded to the estates of Lochiel after the death
of their grandfather.
Ewen, at the head of his followers, fought with John Moyd-
artach of Clanranald, in 1 544, against the Erasers, at the battle
of Kin-Loch-Lochy, better known as « Blar-nan-Leine," the details
of which are already known at length to the readers of the Celtic
Magazine* and for this he got into disfavour with Huntly, then
* Sec also The History of the Maatonahts and Lords of the hies, by the same
author, pp. 381 to 395.
HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS. 151
Lieutenant of the North. Lochiel, also, in 1 546, gave counten-
ance to the rebellion of the Earl of Lennox, he having, among
other things, written in that year to the Lord-Deputy of Ireland,
promising his services to the English King, and saying that he
had marched to the Lowlands, and taken a prey both from
Huntly and Argyll. He also asked support for, and recom-
mended, James Macdonald of Dunyveg — who had for a short
time assumed the title of Lord of the Isles, and whom Ewen
styles in his letter, as the " narrest of Ayr to the hous of the
Yllis," and as a brave young man, " with great strength of kins-
men." Through the instrumentality of William Mackintosh of
Mackintosh, who joined Huntly with a large force, to subdue the
rebels, and lay the country waste, Ewen Cameron, and Ranald,
son of Donald Glas of Keppoch, were, with several others, appre-
hended; imprisoned for a short time in the Castle of Ruthven;
after which they were tried, at Elgin, by a jury of landed gentle-
men, for high treason, for the part they had taken at Blar-nan-
Leine, and in the rebellion of the Earl of Lennox. They were
both found guilty, and beheaded, and their heads were exposed
over the gates of the town, while several of their followers, who
had been captured along with them, were hanged.
In addition to the Constabulary of Strome Castle, previously
granted to Alan, Ewen's father, in 1472 — with the twelve merk-
lands of Kishorn, for the maintenance and faithful keeping of the
Castle already possessed by him — Alexander of Lochalsh, in
1492, granted " Ewin, the son of Alan, Captain of Clancamroun,"
2os. of Strome Carranach, 2os. of Slumbay, IDS. of the quarter of
" Doune," and 303. of the three quarters of Achintee, in the
Lordship of Lochcarron. These were confirmed to Ewen, along
with his other lands, in 1495; and, in 1528, they were included in
the new grant erecting all his lands into the Barony of Lochiel.
On the 6th of March 1539, the Castle of Strome, with the
lands attached to it, were granted by James IV. to Alexander of
Glengarry and Margaret of the Isles, his wife, on her resignation
of them. On the i ith of April, in the same year, Ewen Cameron
resigned these with other lands. Strome and Kishorn, with
others, were in 1546 forfeited for the crime of treason and lese
majesty, and they never after formed any portion of the posses-
sions of Cameron of Lochiel. They soon after passed to the
I52 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
Macdonalds of Glengarry, and ultimately to the Mackenzies of
Kintail and Seaforth.
The charter of 1472, by Alexander of Lochalsh, is appar-
ently the first charter of any lands possessed by the Camerons of
Lochiel. The author of the Memoirs briefly referring to the
grants of 1472 says, "the family I am wryting of can produce
non older than those I have mentioned, whereby it is now im-
possible to discover what the extent of their estate formerly was."
In 1528 James V. granted Ewen "for his good service, and
for a certain pecuniary composition," the 40 merklands of Glen-
lui and Locharkaig, with half of the Bailliary of Lochaber,
"which were formerly possessed by his father, Alan, Donald's
son, of the king's predecessors, and were in the king's hands by
reason of Alan's death."* These were also confirmed, in 1 539, to
himself in life-rent and to his grandson, Ewen, in heritage. In
1544, a previous grant of them in 1505, is confirmed, by Queen
Mary, to William Mackintosh of Dunachton, but, in 1552, these
lands and others are granted to Alexander, Lord Gordon, they
having in the meantime been forfeited by William Mackintosh
for the crimes of treason and lese majesty. They subsequently
changed hands repeatedly, until they finally became the undis-
puted and undisturbed possession of the Camerons of Lochiel.f
Referring to the acquisitions of this chief, Skene says that,
" He appears, in consequence of his feudal claims, to have ac-
quired almost the whole estates which belonged to the Chief of
Clanranald, and to have so effectually crushed that family that
their chiefship was soon after usurped by a branch of the family.
It was during the life of Ewen that the last Lord of the Isles was
forfeited, and as the Crown readily gave charters to all the inde-
pendent clans of the lands in their possession, Ewen Cameron
easily obtained a feudal title to the whole of his possessions, as
* Origines Parochiaks Scotiac.
tReferring to the acquisition of Locharkaig and Lochiel by the Camerons, first by
Allan MacDhomh'uill Duibh, Skene says:-" This property had formed part of the
sions of the Clan Ranald, and had been held by them of Godfrey of the Isles,
d his son Alexander, the eldest branch of the family. After the death of Alex-
amerons appear to have acquired a feudal title to these lands, while the
uiicl of Clan I claimed them as male ^^-Highlanders of Scotland, vol. ii.,
HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS. 153
well those which he inherited from his father as those which he
wrested from the neighbouring clans ; and at this period may be
dated the establishment of the Camerons in that station of im-
portance and consideration which they have ever since main-
tained." *
When the Highland chiefs were called upon to take out
charters for their lands after the forfeiture of the last Lord of the
Isles, Ewen set out for Edinburgh, and procured from James IV.
a confirmation of his previous charters from Alexander of Loch-
alsh, " in presence," the author of the Memoirs informs us, " of all
the great officers of the Crown, and of many other noble lords,
spiritual and temporal, who are all designed witnesses to it." He
remained for some time at Court, and got into favour with the
King, whom he afterwards loyally supported in all his wars, in-
cluding the disastrous battle of Flodden, from which Ewen was
fortunate enough to escape alive.
During the minority of James V., Lochiel faithfully adhered
to the fortunes of John, Duke of Albany, then governor of the
kingdom. When he took charge of the Government he had no
more faithful subject than Cameron of Lochiel, who aided him in
all his wars, became a great favourite at Court, for which he was
fully rewarded by the charter granted to him by the King in
1528, erecting all his lands into the Barony of Lochiel, already
referred to, and the charter in which the Captain of Clan
Cameron is for the first time designed "of Lochiel." In 1531 he
obtained a charter to the lands of Inverlochy, Torlundy, and
others, in the lordship of Lochaber, extending to thirteen merk-
lands of old extent, " which belonged to the King in property,
but were never in his rental, and were occupied by the inhabi-
tants of the Isles and others, who had no right to them," for a
payment of forty merks yearly. At the same time, and for a
similar amount, per annum, the King granted him the lands of
Invergarry, Kilinane, Laggan, and Achindrom, of the old extent
of twelve merks, all of which also belonged to the King in property,
but never were in his rental, and were also occupied by the
inhabitants of the Isles and others, who had no right to them. In
1536 the same King granted to "Donald Camroun, the son and
* Highlanders oj Scotland, vol. ii., pp. 197-198.
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heir of Ewin Allanson, Captain of Clancamroun, the non-entry
and other dues of various lands, including the £6 land of
Sleisgarow in Glengarry." This grant was repeated in the
following year. He also, in 1536, received a charter, dated the
8th of November, granting him the lands of Knoydart, Glen
Nevis, and others in Inverness-shire.
It appears that, in 1492, Ewen had granted a bond of man-
rent to Farquhar (whose sister he afterwards married), apparent
heir to his father, Duncan Mackintosh of Mackintosh, in which
he bound himself to assist and defend him against all men, even
his own superior, Alexander Macdonald of Lochalsh, in case the
latter, in the event of dispute with Mackintosh, should refuse to
arrange terms. In 1497, however, after Farquhar's imprison-
ment in the Castle of Dunbar, and immediately on the death of
his father, Duncan Mackintosh, the Camerons broke through
their engagement, refused to make any acknowledgment to
Mackintosh for the lands they occupied in Lochaber, and then
invaded the Braes of Badenoch and Strathnairn, plundering all
the Mackintosh lands in those districts.
Farquhar's cousin, William Mackintosh, son of Lachlan
Badenoch, led the clan in the absence of the chief, and after
punishing the Macgregors of Rannoch and Appin, and the Clan
Ian of Glencoe, who accompanied the invaders, he turned his
attention to the Camerons. uHis cousin, Dougal Mor MacGhilli-
challum, offered to ' daunton the Camerons for some time ' if he
were allowed thirty fighting men, and the use of the lands of
Borlum for a year. His offer being accepted, he set about carry-
ing out his plan, which was to sail up Loch-Ness in the night-
time and surprise and lay waste some part of the Cameron lands,
returning to his head-quarters before the invaded country could
be raised against him. He was completely successful, makino-
several of these inroads at unexpected times to the no small dis-
quiet of the Lochabrians." This version is from the historian of
the enemy.*
Gregory says that, about the year 1500, the feud which
had so long subsisted between the Camerons and the Mac-
leans, regarding the lands of Lochiel, broke out into renewed
* Alexander Mackintosh-Shaw'
History of Clan Chat (an.
HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS. 155
violence. The Macleans carried off a large number of cattle
from Lochaber, an injury which was soon after fully revenged
by the Camerons. These broils were stopped for a time through
the influence of Argyll, when the Macleans, who appear on
this occasion to have been the aggressors, received a tempor-
ary respite [under the Privy Seal. A few years later, however,
the old quarrel was revived, and another feud was carried on for
some time with great bitterness. Indeed, traces are found of
these quarrels between the two families during the greater part
of the reign of James V., who died in 1542.
Such is a sketch of the career of the greatest chief the Clan
Cameron had yet produced, and, if we accept the authority of the
family historian, " a chief of the greatest abilities of any of his
time. He is still famous," he says, " in these parts for his courage
and military conduct, for the greatest part of his life was em-
ployed in warlike adventures, either in the service of the Crown,
or his own private quarrels. However, he was so far from ne-
glecting the government and policy of his [own] country that his
people increased in numbers and riches, as his estate did in value
and extent. In a word, he omitted no opportunity of serving the
interest of his family ; and in this was much wiser than any of
his predecessors, that he was careful to secure his large and
extensive possessions to his posterity by authentic charters;" a
few only of which he refers to as being then extant.
He married, first, a daughter of Cclestine of Lochalsh,*
brother of John, last Earl of Ross and Lord of the Isles, with
issue —
i. Donald, his heir, who married, as we have seen, Anne,
daughter of Sir James Grant of Grant, with issue, (i) Ewen
Beag, who succeeded his grandfather, Ewen Alanson, and (2)
Donald, who succeeded his brother Ewen. Donald, Ewen's
eldest son and heir, died long before his father, — between the
years 1536 and 1539.
* Hugh Macdonald, the Sleat seanachie, in the Collectanea de Rebus Albanicis,
p. 320. This alliance will account for the Constableship of Strome Castle having
been conferred upon Ewen Alanson, and upon his eldest son, by the Lords of Lochalsh
in succession, as well for the lands bestowed upon him by each of them in Lochaber,
Lochcarron, and Lochalsh.
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Ewen married, secondly, Marjory, daughter of Duncan
Mackintosh of Mackintosh,* with issue—
2. Donald, afterwards one of Allan Cameron's tutors, and
progenitor of the family of Erracht He was assassinated at a
meeting of the clan held at Inverlochy Castle.
3. John, another of the tutors, progenitor of the Camerons
of Kin-Lochiel. He was beheaded at the Castle of Dunstaffnage.
Ewen, as we have already noticed, was executed in 1 547, at
Elgin, for high treason, when he was succeeded by his grandson,
EWEN CAMERON, generally called " Little Ewen," to dis-
tinguish him from his grandfather, and of whom in our next.
( To be continued.)
THE MARQUIS OF BUTE ON EVICTIONS AND THE RIGHTS OF
THE PEOPLE.— His Lordship, in a recent lecture on "The Tendencies of certain
Races," before the Edinburgh Philosophical Institution, made, for a proprietor, the fol-
lowing remarkable statement regarding the Celts of Scotland and Ireland : — " The
Irish are animated by a feeling of nationality, which, however we may regret or con-
demn the acts of some of them, we cannot regard in itself without sympathy and ad-
miration. You must have remarked how marvellously their political schemes are ship-
wrecked by the number of divisions and dissensions among them. This tribal system
[in both countries] practically means, I take it, that the land belongs not to individuals
in proprietorship, but to the inhabitants of the district in common. I believe that, in
the purest development of the Gaelic polity, the office of chief was elective every time,
with the choice confined to the members of a certain family; but even were it strictly
hereditary when the chiefs ancestor was chosen by his fellow-tribesmen, they intended
to invest him with certain well-defined political rights, but certainly not with the power
of turning themselves out of the common tribe territory. The change into proprietorship
such as prevail in other races was abruptly effected by James VI. in Ireland ; but among
ourselves, although slowly brought on by the influence of feudal ideas — ideas which
never had in Ireland any but a very limited sphere of operation — was yet practically
and chiefly the consequence of the '45, a movement which I cannot help regarding as
in itself a race movement, of Celt against Teuton, and in which, as is usually, if not
invariably, found in history to be the case in the event of such collisions, the Celts
were worsted. Hence, when, as in Ireland, with which I need not concern my-
self farther, but which it seems to me that no curious student of ethnology can regard
as an outside or exceptional case, in a study of Gallo-Keltism, our indignation is in-
voked to reprobate such acts as what are called the Sutherland clearings, for instance,
and more recent cases of the same kind. The real idea underlying the denunciations is
that the proprietor is making use of a mediaeval or modern fiction to commit what is
morally a breach of covenant. I think that that is what it comes to, though those who
speak most upon such subjects do not always, if I may say it that should not, put their
<nvn case so well as I venture to think I do."
* Memoirs of Lochcill, Author's Introduction, p. 25, and Douglas's Baronage.
157
THE ETHICS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY.
I. — INTRODUCTORY.
IN the September number of this modest magazine I felt it my
duty to put myself forward to contest the views of a respected
Highland proprietor against the advisability of creating a peasant
proprietary. In discussing that subject, so as not to complicate
it, I avoided the more general question of Land Law reform,
which now occupies so large a share of the public attention, and
which concerns the well-being of the people generally, especially
Highlanders, more than any other subject affecting their social
and material comfort and advancement.
Society is agitated to its very foundation, and it behoves us
to bring to the consideration of the subject minds imbued with a
regard for fundamental principles of truth and justice, by the
light of reason and experience. We find that those who are in
possession of the soil, and those who wish to wrest it out of their
hands, appeal to the same theories of political economy in sup-
port of their arguments, so that landlords and socialists would be
at death-grips but for the bulk and strength of a vast commercial
commuuity which interposes between them.
It is urged by some landlords that the principles. upon which
the Irish Land Act proceeds are opposed to the principles of
political economy. Then, if the principles of the Act are founded
in justice, the theories of political economy which do not tally
with it require careful consideration and revision. The reader
will here probably throw up his hands in dismay and exclaim,
" Who on earth can understand the * dismal science ' called poli-
tical economy ?" Lochiel, of whose ancestral domains honour-
able mention is made in the "Wealth of Nations," made the frank
confession, at a recent meeting of Highlanders, that he did not
understand it, and the Prime Minister is said to have sent it to
Jupiter and Saturn. For myself, I could well wish that he had
given it a less exalted position, and consigned it rather to the
limbo of all incomprehensible absurdities, and reconstructed it on
intelligible principles.
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There are still, however, many who pin their faith to what
they call political economy, and it is well to inquire into the
extent and limit of their faith, and more particularly into the
nature of the things and transactions to which they refer.
Political economy naturally divides itself into two parts, as re-
gards productive labour. Adam Smith refers to the agricultural
system, and to the commercial system. His references to agri-
culture, although incisive, are brief. In his time the country was
suffering chiefly from restrictions on commerce, and he devoted
all his energy to the exposure of the pernicious effects of mono-
polies and restrictions. The removal of these has been effected,
and freedom of trade has been adopted as the policy of the State,
and we know the blessed effect that has had upon our own in-
dustries, and on the general condition of the world.
The inherent vice of the agricultural system had not, in his
time, shown itself to any very great extent, as those who were
engaged in the industry were acting under natural feelings of the
interdependence of a receding age. But in respect of both
systems, he always applied his fundamental principles, and we
find the expression "justice, freedom, and equality," constantly
recurring in his works.
The fundamental truths upon which the "Wealth of Nations"
is based are the following :— (i) That labour is the foundation of
all exchange value, and (2) that freedom of labour, or the removal
of all restrictions and restraints is necessary, in order to obtain
the best economic result.
Crabbed utilitarians and infidel materialists came after him,
who thought they would raise political economy to the position
of an exact science, by formulating theories and coining definitions
which, by logical inference, result in a practical denial of truth.
These theories, so confusing to the human mind, have had the
most pernicious effect, not only on the conduct of individual land-
lords, but also on the policy of the State.
At this stage, I am not going to discuss these at any length.
Without using the technical expressions of geometrical and arith-
metical ratios, I may reduce the theorem of the Reverend Mal-
thus to the capacity of the ordinary reader by describing it as ap-
plying the multiplication table to the human race, and the rule of
simple addition to the culturable area of the globe; and the argu-
ETHICS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. 159
ment is that, as the multiplication table is certain to overtake
simple addition, mankind must look out for the worst, or go in
quest of another world. The theorem might be very amusing to
a school boy on the third form, and at the bottom of his class,
but it pleased the landlords so much that they raised the Reverend
Malthus to the dignity of a philosopher.
Any one can see the absurdity of applying the rigid rules of
arithmetic to the two most flexible subjects that can engage our
serious thought — man's conduct in a state of freedom, and under
a sense of responsibility on the one part, and the great capabilities
of the materials of the earth responding to his labour, on the
other.
It led, however, to the degrading conclusion that man is not
fit to be entrusted with freedom, and must be governed by some
superior beings exercising tyranny over his food and social habits.
We are suffering from feudalism in thought, as well as in action.
It should seem strange, indeed, at this time of day, to give a prac-
tical denial to the original command — " Be fruitful, and multiply,
and replenish the earth, and subdue it ; and have dominion over
the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every
living thing that moveth upon the earth."
We are not within sight of limits. The demand for labour
exists everywhere, even among the teeming millions of India.
What do we hear from Cyprus? The locusts there devour
more human food than the inhabitants. The Governor says that
the only thing to keep them down is cultivation. They multiply
so rapidly in the jungle, that they swarm down on the fields and
devour the crops. A report says : —
The Government endeavoured to check the plague by offering a piastre per oke,
equivalent to. a halfpenny per pound, for the eggs, a price subsequently raised, as the
eggs became scarce, to three times that amount. Incredible as it may appear, between
July 1 88 1 and the beginning of February 1882, one thousand three hundred and
twenty-nine tons and a-half of eggs had been brought in and destroyed. Statisticians
can calculate the fabulous number of eggs which is represented by this weight; but
the imagination fails to realise the immensity of the figures. Even this prodigious
destruction of eggs was, however, insufficient to cheque the plague, and five thousand
five hundred screens, each fifty yards long, and eight thousand one hundred traps,
were brought into play against the enemy. It is believed that only an increased
population, and so an increased area of cultivation, will eradicate the locust ; for as
it only lays its eggs in uncultivated ground, where they will not be disturbed by the
plough, their numbers will decrease as the available area for their production
diminishes.
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Further comment on the Reverend Malthus and the Bible
might weaken the conclusion to be drawn from the contrast.
But a still more pernicious theory than the Malthusian one
was propounded by Ricardo, which forms the battle ground
between the landlords and the socialists, and which gives a prac-
tical denial to Adam Smith's proposition that labour is the
foundation of all exchange value. It is called the theory of rent,
and demands a more thorough discussion than I can here give
even a forecast of.
The two maxims which appear to comprise the entire politi-
cal economy of some prominent politicians consist in the two
expressions—" freedom of contract" and " buy in the cheapest
market and sell in the dearest," without, apparently, understand-
ing the difference between the agricultural system and the com-
mercial system. It must be apparent to every one that there is
nothing in commerce of the same nature as the soil, subject to
the same equities and vicissitudes ; nor is there a class in com-
merce claiming exemption from the universal law of labour and
risks as landlords do ; neither is there a relationship between any
two classes in commerce such as subsists between landlords and
agriculturists. There are, in short, two principles which are like
oil and water : they will not mix. The commercial principle is
direct, and leads to accumulation and wealth ; the dual agri-
cultural principle is inverse^ and tends to dissipation and poverty.
It is difficult to conceive how the one principle can apply to the
other. But the task has recently been undertaken by the Duke
of Argyll.
One of the great sources of the confusion of thought which
exists on the subject is the use of false analogies, and the appli-
cation of commercial terms to a transaction which is unknown to
free commerce, so that when you are speaking of one thing you
are thinking of another. This is the dialectic jugglery which
plays so many tricks with the feeble human understanding.
The object of these papers is to make an attempt, however
feeble, to clear the mind of those illusions which are so apt to be
produced by the use of false analogies and definitions. I may
here so far anticipate, as to ask the reader to distinguish between
land as the subject matter of contract, and rent as actually the
thing trafficked in, as, for instance, in the purchase of an estate, it
ETHICS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. 161
is reported as at so many years value of the rental. The inquiry
will, then, resolve itself into these two questions — What is land ?
and what is land rent ? My desire is to make the subject as clear
to readers of the most ordinary intelligence, as it appears to my
own mind, and I crave the indulgence of practised writers, as I
am not used to composition. Let me first attempt an analysis of
THE TWO PRINCIPLES.
The cause, as I conceive it, why the public mind is so
clouded and perplexed on a subject which ought in itself to be
very simple, if viewed in the light of reason and justice, is that
fundamental principles of freedom and equal rights are subor-
dinated to other considerations, and land is treated of as if it
were an ordinary article of commerce. It must appear to every
one that the germinating property of the soil, liable as it is to the
vicissitudes of the weather, and its products to blight and disease,
has no analogy to ordinary commercial property, or the leasing
of land to any ordinary commercial contract. Yet, in argument,
nothing is more common than to find the supporters of our
dual system resorting to analogy. The most distinguished and
talented offender in this respect is the Duke of Argyll, who has
written a pamphlet under the title, " The Commercial Principles,
applicable to Contracts for the Hire of Land."
In this treatise the noble Duke tells of his having once heard
a socialist speak, and as he repeats the same story in the Con-
temporary Review for March last, I give that edition of it. He is
reviewing a pamphlet written by an English freehold farmer (Mr
Prout), in which that gentleman gives an account of his improve-
ments. The sentence objected to runs as follows :—
I am convinced that the greatest impediment to the extension of my husbandry
over the heavy lands of the Kingdom lies in the fact that no law yet provides any
safeguard that a tenant shall obtain the full fruits of his enterprise.
This appears to have roused the noble Duke, and he com-
ments upon it thus : —
I pass over the objection that it is not the business of the law to secure the
"full fruits" — or indeed any fruits— for any kind of enterprise, otherwise than by re-
specting and enforcing all contracts between man and man. . . . The Socialist
doctrines in respect of the rights and the rewards of labour are largely founded on the
same deceptive phrases. One of these doctrines is that no man should ever make any
L
1 62 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
profit out of another man's labour. I recollect hearing this doctrine laid down with
the most perfect good humour, and in the most perfect simplicity of mind, by a London
artisan, in a meeting held many years ago for the discussion of economical subjects.
He said he could never understand how it ever could be just that any man should de-
rive profit from the labour of another. Now, this doctrine rests upon the assertion —
identical both in form and in substance with the assertion of Mr Prout— that every
labourer should enjoy the "full fruits" of his labour.
No man in trade and commerce professes to make money
out of other men's labour. Let the reader reflect. Labour is
simply a necessity of human life, without which — nothing. Does
the physician, clergyman, or lawyer profess to earn his wages by
any other labour than his own? In trade every employer of
reproductive labour pays the wages at the market rate, and is
remunerated for his own labour and capital by profit on the pro-
duct. It very frequently happens, as every one knows, that he
makes a loss by the labour which he himself employs ; but in
any case there is no one over him to claim any share in the fruits
of his enterprise, except what he pays to society in the shape of
taxes. Mr Prout, being a freeholder, is in this happy position,
and he may congratulate himself on the fact.
The labourer, if I may so speak, is a different genus from
the capitalist, of very ancient origin, and of whom it is said, what-
ever his occupation may be, " the labourer is worthy of his hire."
Society has not yet arrived at any plan by which to estimate the
cost of production, except by the wages of labour. When the
labourer has received his wages, as measured in money, he has
received the full fruits of his labour. Any further eventual fruits
belong not to him, but to the vast socialism in which all are
fellow-workers together, except the landlord, who, as such, claims
the privilege of idleness in virtue of his taxing power over other
men's labonr and capital. Could the noble Duke afford to enter
on the discussion, we should have liked very much to know the
result. The question lies between his class and the socialists.
The working community may rest at ease. In short, this is the
working of the commercial principle, under which every man is a
freeman, and by which no man forfeits to another any portion of
the fruits of his labour. By putting a shallow truism in the
mouth of a socialist, the noble Duke has simply presented us
with a mare's nest.
Let me now turn to the agricultural principle, and avail my-
ETHICS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. 163
self of the noble Duke's illustration of its working and benefits.
In a somewhat remarkable speech (for a Highlander) made in the
House of Lords on ist July 1881, the Duke of Argyll is reported
in the Times to have spoken as follows : —
" I now pass on to the question of the confiscation of improvements — one of the
most important heads of the accusation to which I ask the attention of your lordships.
In most of the speeches by members of the Land League, I am sorry to say also in
speeches which are not those of the League, constant accusations are made that land-
lords are confiscating the tenants' improvements by basing increases of rent on such
improvements. I have searched these Blue-Books without finding any data for any
such statement as that which, as I have said, is so frequently made. There is a hill-
side in the West of Ireland, the property of Colonel Pitt Kennedy. It was a barren
moorland not worth in its natural state a shilling an acre ; but it now consists of
thriving farms bearing excellent crops. Now, what were the circumstances in which
the change took place? Colonel Pitt Kennedy brought the people to the moorland,
and said: — " Cultivate and improve this moorland, and you shall have it the first seven
years for next to nothing — one shilling an acre. The eighth year you shall pay two
shillings an acre; the twelfth four shillings," and so on. At the end of twenty years
the rent reaches fourteen shillings an acre; the people were happy and contented; and
the whole operation is praised by Professor Baldwin. The ultimate rent was 1300 per
cent, above the original value of the land. It was raised entirely on what is called
the tenants' improvements. The landlord made no outlay except ^"300 for a road.
Now, was that or not a legitimate operation? Everybody knows that it was a legiti-
mate operation, and that it depends on this principle — the tenant's work on the land-
lord's capital.
To me, who am a commercial man, it really seems a wonder
that socialists are so " good humoured." If the rate of increase
progressed at the same ratio for forty years it will be found that
the rental would come to about £20 per acre, and, on this prin-
ciple, there is no reason at all why it should not.
Not only the merest tyro in political economy, but even men
of the most ordinary intelligence draw a distinction between land
and capital, and one would certainly think that the Duke of
Argyll knew the difference. The plastic human mind, however,
is so liable to be impressed and influenced by one's condition,
avocations, and surroundings as to run the risk of mistaking
things external to his experience for things which are actually in
his possession. " What Ireland requires is capital," and " What
will Ireland do if the landlords take away their capital?" are
questions which are painfully familiar to our ears. If land is
capital it would be a strange phenomenon to see the landlords of
Ireland walk away with the soil, and leaving the poor people on
1 64 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
the bare rock; and yet, I am disposed to think, that some politi-
cians would regard the phenomenon without regret.
The noble Duke asks the question—" Was that or not a legi-
timate operation?" and, like Pilate, who inquired what was truth,
did not wait for an answer. In Ireland the "improvement" took
place by bringing the people to the hill-side, but in the Highlands
the "improvement" was effected by driving them away. Really
the land question is more of a study in psychology than in econo-
mics. It was a beautiful improvement to the hill-side, and, no
doubt, a very great improvement on Colonel Pitt Kennedy's in-
come, but the improvement on the condition of Ireland testifies
that " improvements" may be effected whilst a country decays.
It is quite clear if, like Mr Prout, the people ,had bought the hill-
side, the full fruits of their labour would have accrued to them-
selves. It is equally clear that if Colonel Pitt Kennedy had re-
claimed the land by means of paid labour at its market value he
could not derive 1*300 per cent, per annum at the end of twenty
years. The difference is exactly the amount in which the people
were robbed — on principle.
From the fact that the agricultural principle acts in an in-
verse order, whilst the commercial principle acts in a direct
order, I am disposed to think landowners cannot regard things in
their natural order of time and place. A landlord is supposed,
for the purposes of argument, to be like a shopkeeper to whom a
whole population must come for their wants. Colonel Pitt Ken-
nedy may have been on the hill-side before the people, but in the
Highlands and Islands the people were there before the land-
lords, and as a general rule I believe that to be the case all over
the country.
In the same way, by the doctrine of " freedom of contract,"
it is assumed that the agricultural population is in a constant
state of locomotion, looking for farms as foot-passengers in
the High Street of a town might be looking for the " hire" of
sewing machines. No account is taken of those two great
factors in commerce and human life— time and distance— nor of
associations of locality, and the ties of friendship over a whole
country side. Over all of these any despot can exercise his
uncontrollable power, and commercial principles, it should seem,
must bear the blame.
ETHICS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. 165
The Duke of Argyll argues that the question being a matter
of contract, it is not the business of law to interpose. Every
other economic relationship in the commercial world has under-
gone a change in the law; but land, on commercial principles, it
should seem, is too sacred a subject to be subjected to equity.
Does a contract, then, justify all transactions? A Turkish pasha
contracts with his Government for a judicial appointment, or a
revenue collectorate, so that he may amass wealth, in the one
case by the bribes of suitors, and in the other by oppression; but
no one will say that the contract justifies these transactions.
It is argued in the Duke's pamphlet that the tendency of
modern legislation has been towards individual freedom by re-
moving restrictive laws from the Statute-Book, such as the aboli-
tion of the usury laws. Money, as an instrument of exchange, is
a necessity of commerce, but, being the product of human labour,
it is capable of increase with increase of population and demand ;
and even if it were not, the inventive genius of man has found a
substitute in paper. Where then is the analogy? But although
the usurer is not now under penal laws, he is still an object of
contempt in society, and commerce takes no account of him, as
he trades upon the necessity or folly of his customer. From the
attributes of land, to be engaged in " hiring" and " lending" it on
the principles of the usurer is no trade for a respectable man.
Would not a flush of shame suffuse the dusky cheeks of a Jew
usurer at being caught charging the rate of interest on his coin
which Colonel Pitt Kennedy by law received for his land? In
virtue of his lending right over a barren hill-side, was he not in a
position, as Highland proprietors still are, to interpose between
the hungry mouth and the gratuitous gift of God in the germin-
ating property of the soil, and practically to say to starvelings,
" Your labour and your money, or your life?"
The commercial principle can never apply until land is re-
garded as the raw material to be bought and sold in freehold,
just the same as manufacturers buy the crude materials which
they subject to reproductive labour, and sell as finished articles.
This is not the place to attempt a forecast of how an ethic-econo-
mic prohibitory law against the " hiring" and " lending" of land
would remedy the existing great evils of our land tenure without
prejudice to any just rights of landlords, The great inequalities
1 66 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
in respect of land are as apparent to the lovers of constitutional
freedom as they are to extreme socialists. But my object here is
to trace out some of those theories and analogies which obscure
and perplex the mind.
Before I have done, however, with the comparison of the two
principles, let me direct the reader's mind to the land law of
contracts and the commercial law of contracts. The noble Duke
says — " It is not the business of the law to secure the full fruits
— or, indeed, any fruits — for any kind of enterprise, otherwise
than by respecting and enforcing all contracts between man and
man." This is strict law, and equity is not allowed to step in;
as, for instance, when a man loses the fruits of his labour, not
through any fault or want of prescience on his own part, but by
the act of God, such as the loss of his crops by blight and grub,
and of his cattle and sheep by epidemic. He may go to the land-
lord and say — " My lord, I have not only lost the fruits of my
labour, but also a great part of my capital ; your land has, by the
dispensations of Providence, yielded me nothing this year. I
pray you let me off my rent." By strict law the landlord says—
" That is your affair ; I live by my rent ; I incur no risk ; I am
not subject to the dispensations of Providence ; ' I stay here on
my bond.' " A law that can lead to such a conclusion is immoral
in the highest sense. In commercial law, if a man is in a state of
duress when making a contract, or a " contingency " takes place
which could not be foreseen, or ought to have been included in
the contract, a court of equity will grant relief.
In praise of the excellence of Scots law, the noble Duke, in
his treatise, says that it was founded on the wisdom of the
Romans, who, he says, were great in art and war, but, above all,
in law. The Venetians were great also in art and war, but, above
all, in commerce; and the great dramatist personified in Shylock
and Portia the distinction which I call attention to. To save
the reader the trouble of looking up the reference, I give the
quotation : —
"Portia (Equity)— Why, this bond is forfeit ;
And lawfully by this the Jew may claim
A pound of flesh, to be by him cut off,
Nearest the merchant's heart — Be merciful ;
Take thrice thy money ; bid me tear the bond.
EX VOTO. 167
Shylock (Law) — When it is paid according to the tenor.
It doth appear you are a worthy judge ;
You know the law, your exposition
Hath been most sound : I charge you by the law,
Whereof you are a well-deserving pillar,
Proceed to judgment : by my soul I swear,
There is no power in the tongue of man
To alter me : I stay here on my bond.
Portia — Tarry a little — there is something else —
This bond doth give thee here no jot of blood ;
The words expressly are a pound of flesh.
Then take thy bond, take thou thy pound of flesh ;
But, in the cutting it, if thou dost shed
One drop of Christian blood, thy lands and goods
Are, by the laws of Venice, confiscate
Unto the State of Venice."
While I have freely availed myself of the sharp weapons of
controversial criticisms, I beg the reader to feel assured that I
entertain a high respect for the noble Duke's person, character,
and talents, and a thorough belief in his dialectic skill to defend
his position so far as it is tenable.
Having by the foregoing discussion briefly, and inadequately,
laid down that there are two systems of industry, and two sharply
defined principles of law and practice, I proceed next to elucidate
that all-important question — What is Land ? and to draw con-
clusions which carry the subject specially into the region of the
highest ethics. MALCOLM MACKENZIE.
EX VOTO.
(THURSDAY, i6TH MARCH 1882.)
Your voice restores Arcadia to-night,
And we, enchanted out of time and space,
Tread the green floor of Fancy's land, and gaze
Past the forgotten foot-lamps and their light,
Into the vanished world of pastoral,
Where, on the branch, some blossom-haunting bee
Hangs charmed of his sordid industry,
And golden on gold hair slant sun-lights fall.
Rosalind, Perdita, and Amoret, —
Sweet names that lie within the heart asleep,
Waiting the lightest touch of thought to leap
In music, — by your side to-night we set
A sister name for memory to keep,
Saved out of time, and sealed beyond regret,
W, A, SIM,
168 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
LIA-FAIL, OR THE SCOTTISH CORONATION
STONE.
THE early history of the famous Lia, Liag, or Leug Fail, in which
the Celtic portion of our countrymen have at least as much in-
terest as any others, is involved in obscurity, and rests entirely
upon the traditions handed down from the old Celtic bards and
seanachies. According to Dr Maclagan's interesting work on
Scottish Myths, it was Lug MacEithlenn, King of the Irish Celts,
who first brought the stone into Ireland from near Carmuirs,
in Lothian. Again, it is said that Simon Breac, a Nemidean,
caught the stone on the fluke of his anchor, and that the Danes
took it to Ireland from Manand. Another account is that Conn,
King of Ireland, was walking by the shore with his Druid priests
and bards, when he happened to set his foot upon a large stone,
which, upon being struck, emitted a hollow sound. Surprised at
the phenomenon, Conn asked the priests the name of the stone,
where it had come from, and what the sound portended ? The
priests took fifty-three days to consider, and then informed Conn
that the name of the stone was Fal, that it came from the Isle of
Man, that it was set up in a place called Temair or Tara in the
Island of Fal, and that it was to remain for ever in the land of
Tailtin ; also, that the sound was only forthcoming when the
stone was touched by the rightful king, and that the number of
sounds emitted foretold the number of kings of the race of Conn
who should succeed him. Conn was delighted at this account of
the stone, and ordered it to be taken to the palace, and carefully
preserved. The fame of the stone went abroad far and near, and
came to the ears of the Scots, who were at that time engaged in
a knotty point as to the legitimate succession to the throne. An
embassy was at once dispatched to Ireland, to beg a loan of the
stone until they could decide the question, but the virtues of the
stone had suddenly departed (presumably upon the birth of
Christ). This was unknown to the Scots, and the Irish, wishing
to be friendly, readily consented to lend the stone, without hint-
LIA-FAIL. 169
ing that it would be of no use. The Scots, however, refused to
return the relic, and, as the Irish did not think it worth recover-
ing, it remained in Scotland, and was placed in Dunstaffhage
Palace, in Argyllshire.
Some affirm that it is the stone which formed Jacob's pillow
in the plain of Luz or Bethel, when he dreamed of the great
ladder reaching up to heaven; that it was taken to Brigantia,
in the province of Gallicia, in Spain, where King Gathelus used it
as his throne; and that thence it was carried away to Ireland by
Simon Breac, above mentioned, who was King of the Scots about
700 B.C. From Ireland it was conveyed to lona by King Fergus
I., about the year 330 B.C.; thence to DunstafTnage ; and, in the
year 850 A.D., it was placed in Scone Abbey by Kenneth Mac-
alpin. About this time a superstition gained ground, that,
wherever the stone should be, a Scottish king should reign, and
Kenneth is said to have caused the following rhyme to be en-
graved upon it in the Irish character: —
" Cinne Scuit saor am fine,
Mar breug am faistine :
Far am faighear an Lia-fail
Dlighe flaitheas do ghabhail,"
which Hector Boethius translated into Latin as follows: —
" Ne fallat fatum, Scoti, quocunque locatum
Invenient lapidem hunc, regnare tenentur ibidem."
The common English rhyme is :—
" Except old saws do feign,
And wizards' wits be blind,
The Scots in place must reign,
Where they this stone shall find,"
another being —
" Consider, Scot, where'er you find this stone,
If fates fail not, there fixed must be your throne."
The translation generally received as the true one is —
"The race of the free Scots shall nourish, if this prediction ba not false : wherever
the stone of destiny is found, they shall prevail by the right of heaven."
This prediction has been verified in the cases of Gathelus, Simon
Breac, Kenneth Macalpin, and James I.
i;o THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
In 1296, Edward I. of England carried it away with him,
and placed it in the chapel of Edward the Confessor, in West-
minster Abbey. He is said to have caused the inscription upon
it, before alluded to, to be chiselled off, in order to destroy all
record of the unfortunate country which he had so ruthlessly
despoiled. The stone was then enclosed in a wooden chair, and
was used at the coronation of Henry IV., as appears from the
following account of the coronation of that King, in Riley's
Chronica Monasterii S. Albani : — " Introducto rege, et in cathe-
drato sede regali super lapidem qui dicitur 'Regale Regni Scotiae,'
cantabatur Antiphona."
The office of placing the Sovereigns of Scotland upon the
stone for the ceremony of coronation was the hereditary right of
the Earls of Fife. The preservation of the relic was regarded by
the Scottish nation as of great moment, and in the year 1327 a
treaty was drawn up between Scotland and England, one of the
clauses of which stipulated that Lia-fail should be restored, but
the population of. London rose in a riotous manner, and refused
to allow the emblem of Edward the First's success to be re-
moved from England. In 1363, in a secret treaty entered into
by David II. and Edward III., it was agreed that the coronation
stone should be removed from England to Scone, and that the
Kings of England were henceforth to be crowned of Scotland
upon the stone at Scone. This treaty, however, was never rati-
fied.
As seen at present in the chapel of Edward the Confessor,
Westminster, the relic is an oblong stone of about twenty-two
inches in length, thirteen in breadth, and eleven in depth. It is
of a dark steel colour, interspersed with veins of red, and is com-
posed apparently of a sort of limestone which is still found near
Dundee. There is an iron ring at each end of it, provided with
careful arrangements to prevent them breaking off by the weight
of the stone when lifted.
In Scotland, the stone is known by the names of Lia-fail,
the Coronation-Stone, Jacob's Stone, the Fatal Marble Stone,
the Scottish Palladium, the Black Stone, the Stone of Destiny,
the Stone of Fortune, and several others.
H,
OUR FIRST CELTIC PROFESSOR.
ON Friday, the 22nd of December, after we had gone to press
with the January number, Mr Donald Mackinnon, M.A., was
unanimously elected Professor of Celtic Languages, History,
Literature, and Antiquities, in the University of Edinburgh, an
appointment which has given very general satisfaction in Celtic
circles. The Patrons are the Curators of the University and
Professor Blackie. We have from the beginning felt a keen inter-
est in the eventual election of the first occupant of the Chair, and
we are quite satisfied that, taking everything into consideration, no
better appointment could have been made. In this connection
it may not be amiss to reproduce a few remarks which we
made in the Celtic Magazine for September 1877, and which
had unfortunately caused some little friction, and perhaps annoy-
ance, in certain quarters, at the time. It has indeed been seriously
stated that our premature intimation of what was to be, or what
should be, was, in a degree, responsible for the delay in the
appointment which has now taken place. Be that as it may, we are
glad to find that the two gentlemen whose names we then men-
tioned as possible candidates were since two of Mr Mackinnon's
strongest supporters for the Professorship, and it would be
difficult to find two better qualified to express an opinion on
such a subject than the Rev. Thomas Maclauchlan, LL.D., and
Sheriff Nicolson, of Kirkcudbright.
The remarks which we published in 1877, are, with a slight
variation of one sentence, as follows : —
THE NEW CELTIC PROFESSOR FOR EDINBURGH. — There has been a good
deal of speculation of late as to who the coming Professor of Celtic is to be. It
is understood that the Council of the University have decided to leave the choice
of the first occupant of the Chair entirely with Professor Blackie, and this is as
it should be; for, without him, there would have been no Chair to fill. We are
happy to learn that the man has been already virtually decided upon, and that the
future Celtic Professor will be D. Mackinnon, M.A., of the Gael, and Secretary to
the Edinburgh School Board. Mr Mackinnon had a distinguished career in the
University, and is a first-class general scholar. He is a native of Colonsay, and in
working his way up from the bottom of the ladder, he has given ample proof of the
qualities required in our first Celtic Professor. He has, throughout his course in the
University, and since, paid special attention to Celtic literature, and his papers in
I72 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
the 6V*/ on " Litreachas nan Gaidheal" (The Literature of the Highlanders), show
an extensive knowledge, and a due appreciation, of the subject under consideration.
While we have others, among the rising generation of Celtic students, quite equal to
Mr Mackinnon in Celtic scholarship, we are not aware of ariy amongst them equal to
him in the higher education and in general culture. Some names have been men-
tioned as candidates for the Chair whose work in the Celtic field is a mere caricature
and burlesque on Celtic philology. Others who have been mentioned, such as the
Rev. Dr Maclauchlan and Sheriff Nicolson, are, no doubt, well qualified, but one is,
perhaps, too advanced in years, and both too comfortably settled down in life, in their
respective social positions, to care about devoting the labour and close application
absolutely necessary for a successful Professor of Celtic, who must give a reason for
his existence, and go over and cultivate an extensive field, hitherto comparatively un-
touched, even by our best native Celtic scholars. It requires a young man with
proved ability, yearning to distinguish himself in Celtic research, to fill this Chair
with credit to himself, to its distinguished founder, and to the literature of the Celts;
and Mr Mackinnon is unquestionably the most likely man. Professor Blackie is, per-
haps, the only man who would, or could, have made such an independent and excel-
lent choice, where so much influence was certain to be used to secure the post for
more influential but less able candidates.
In his application Mr Mackinnon says: —
Gaelic is my mother tongue, and I have read it and written, as well as spoken
the language, from my boyhood. For the last twelve years I have devoted such
leisure time as I could afford to the scientific study of my native language and the
kindred tongues; and I am quite familiar with the standard works on these subjects
published in recent years by Zeuss, Skene, Stokes, Windisch, and others. My pub-
lished contributions to Gaelic and Celtic Literature consist, with few exceptions, of
papers printed in a magazine called the Gael. .... During the last few years
I have collected materials for a New Edition of Reid's Bibliotheca Scoto-Celtica. I
have also transcribed, arranged, and annotated the Fernaig MS. — a collection of
Gaelic poetry made in 1688, and now the property of William F. Skene, Esq., LL.D.,
Historiographer- Royal for Scotland. The MS. is written phonetically, like the Dean
of Lismore's MS., and consists of upwards of 6000 lines of unpublished Gaelic poetry
by Bishop Cars well, Sir John Stewart of Appin, and others. For the last eighteen
months I have acted as Secretary and member of a Commission appointed by the
Society for Propagating Christian Knowledge for the revision of the Gaelic Scrip-
tures.
Sir Alexander Grant, Bart, Principal of the University of Edin-
burgh, wrote so long ago as ist January 1871 :—
I have the honour to certify that Mr Donald Mackinnon has completed an hon-
ourable career as a student in this University. He obtained at different times class
prizes for Latin, logic, mathematics, natural philosophy, moral philosophy, English
literature, and metaphysics. In April 1868 the Macpherson Bursary was awarded to
him after competition. In November 1869 he passed his examination for M. A. degree
with first-class honours in mental philosophy. In the same month he obtained the
Hamilton Fellowship in mental philosophy— one of the highest distinctions which
this University has to offer. The professors under whom he has studied have a high
opinion of his abilities and character.
OUR FIRST CELTIC PROFESSOR. 173
Sheriff Nicolson writes under date of iSth November 1882 : —
I have long taken a deep interest in the foundation of a Celtic Chair in the
University of Edinburgh: I wrote circulars on the subject twenty years ago. Since
the dream of those days has become a reality (thanks to my dear and honoured friend,
Professor Blackie!), I have felt some anxiety in view of the time when the Chair must
be filled, especially after it became certain that none of our older and most eminent
workers in the field of Celtic literature would be available for the office : I refer speci-
ally to Mr Skene, Mr Stokes, Dr Maclauchlan, and Dr Clerk.
That anxiety has been much lightened by knowing that Mr Donald Mackinnon
is about to become a candidate. I see no reason for withholding the opinion, as all
the curators know me, that if the patronage of this Chair were in my gift, I should
without hesitation confer the office on him. I should feel assured in doing so that the
desires and anticipations of those who have taken most interest in founding the Chair
would not be disappointed, and that Celtic literature would be worthily represented
in the University of Edinburgh.
I shall briefly indicate what Mr Mackinnon's qualifications are, special and general.
I don't know any other man in Scotland more thoroughly master than he is of
Gaelic Grammar, whose knowledge of it is more exact and reasoned. Nor do I
know any equal to him as a writer of our vernacular Gaelic. Of this he has given
abundant proof, infer alia, in two remarkable series of papers, in a Gaelic magazine
called the Gael, the one on Gaelic proverbs, the other on Gaelic literature. The style
of these papers is thoroughly idiomatic— that of a man who thinks in Gaelic, instead of
translating from English, as many respectable preachers do, who pass for fair Gaelic
scholars. The ease with which Mr Mackinnon can express, in good Gaelic, thoughts
and modes of speech that have never been rendered familiar in that language, is very
uncommon. The matter of these papers is not less remarkable than the form, show-
ing thorough acquaintance with the subjects, and breadth of view in treating them.
They give the impression of being the work of a vigorous and critical intellect, ex-
pressing itself naturally with clearness and power.
Mr Mackinnon's knowledge of Celtic philology and literature in general has
not been exhibited to the world yet, so far as I know, in print. But I don't attach
great importance to such exhibition— I think it would be unwise to insist on it as a
sine qua non for a candidate. It sometimes happens, unfortunately, to prove to those
acquainted with the subjects something quite different from what it was intended to
demonstrate. My acquaintance with Mr Mackinnon leads me to believe that, in
capacity to deal with the subjects which the occupant of the Celtic Chair is bound to
know and teach, he may safely be trusted to do credit to himself and the Univer-
sity. Whether as a lecturer on such subjects, or as a teacher of Gaelic to those who
may avail themselves of that important part of the new Professor's duties, I should
look with confidence to his achieving success. His style in English is not less excel-
lent than in Gaelic, and he possesses the gift of clear exposition in a high degree.
As to his general merits, his career at the University of Edinburgh was dis-
tinguished throughout, of which, as examiner at the time in philosophy and English
literature, I can speak with distinct recollection of the high character and thorough-
ness of his papers. The Highlands have not sent, so far as I know, to the University
of Edinburgh in recent times a more distinguished student than Mr Mackinnon.
He is in the prime of life, has a great capacity for work, and is one of those
who still maintain, in the midst of a busy life and exacting details, the academic spirit
and philosophic mind. He is straightforward and independent, and free from pre-
I74 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
judices, even on Celtic questions, to a degree not common among warm-blooded
Highlanders.
I earnestly hope the attendance at the Celtic class may be good; but whatever
it may be, I have no fear that the office would ever prove a caput mortuum in the
hands of Mr Donald Mackinnon.
The Rev. Archibald Clerk, LL.D., minister of Kilmallie, writes :—
I have had the pleasure of being well acquainted with Mr Donald Mackinnon
for a considerable time; and during the last eighteen months I have been very closely
associated with him in preparing for the press, under the auspices of the Christian
Knowledge Society, a revised edition of the Gaelic Scriptures. I have thus had ample
opportunities of estimating his knowledge of the Gaelic language, and I assert, with-
out hesitation, that I consider him the most accurate Gaelic scholar within the range
of my acquaintance. He is quite familiar with the various spoken dialects of the
language. He has carefully examined its scanty literature, whether in print or MS.,
and has, with the eye of an accomplished philologist, studied its peculiar structure.
There are other important qualifications, besides philological attainment, neces-
sary to fit a person to discharge aright the various duties required of the occupant of
the Celtic Chair, for which Mr Mackinnon is a candidate, and these also he possesses
in an eminent degree. He has thorough knowledge of, and sympathy with, the
people whose history, character, and institutions the Professor would be expected to
illustrate. He is well able to compare these with the history and institutions of other
nations. His attainments, both in classics and philosophy, are of a high order, as is
proved by the very distinguished position which he won in the University of Edin-
burgh. I know that he has continued to be a steady and systematic student. He has
added the knowledge of modern languages to that of the classics, and is in every
respect well abreast of the learning of the present day.
But what, in my opinion, specially qualifies Mr Mackinnon for the office which
he seeks is that he possesses a very clear, vigorous intellect, sound practical judgment,
thorough candour, and independence of character, rendering him loyal to truth, and
fearless in its support.
The unsettled and very unsatisfactory state of almost all Gaelic questions im-
peratively demands the possession of such qualities in the occupant of the Celtic Chair.
The orthography of the language is still a subject of unceasing contention - every dis-
trict claiming supremacy for its own dialect— every writer for his own theory. All
that pertains to Celtic character and history is most unduly depreciated by one class
of writers, and just as unduly extolled by another. Mr Mackinnon is able to collect
carefully and to record impartially all the facts which can still be gathered regarding
those controverted subjects; and he has another most valuable quality, in being master
of a style which is remarkably clear and concise. He is highly fitted for the duties
of the Chair in its scientific aspects; and for its practical department -the teaching
students good vernacular Gaelic— no one can surpass him. For the credit and useful-
ness of the Chair, as well as for his own sake, I heartily wish him success in his candi-
dature.
Among others who testified to Mr Mackinnon's qualifications
for the Celtic Professorship are — The Right Reverend Angus
Macdonald, D.D., Bishop of Argyll and the Isles ; Rev. Thomas
Maclauchlan, LL.D.; Rev. Robert Blair, Cambuslang ; Rev. J.
THE MAGILLONY CAMERONS, 175
Cameron Lccs, D.D., St Giles's, Edinburgh ; Rev. Norman Mac-
leod, St Stephen's, Edinburgh ; Rev. John Maclean, Tarbert ;
Rev. Neil Dewar, Free Church, Kingussie; Rev. William Watson,
Kiltearn ; Rev. Alexander Lee, Free Church, Nairn ; Rev. Alex.
J. Macquarrie, Fort- William ; Mr D. Campbell Black, M.D.;
Professor Calderwood, LL.D., Edinburgh ; Rev. Archibald Scott,
D.D., St George's, Edinburgh; Professor S. S. Laurie, Edinburgh;
Rev. David Duff, LL.D., Professor of Church History ; the Rev.
A. C. Sutherland, B.D., Strathbraan ; the Rev. Dr Begg ; the
Rev. J. G. Campbell, Tiree ; Professor Kelland ; and the late
Lord Colonsay.
(Ecrrresponbetue.
THE MACGILLONY CAMERONS.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
SIR, — Having read the letter of your correspondent, " Coirre-an-t-Sith," with
much interest, I beg to be permitted to show where I differ from him. First —
"Onfhadh" is not tempest, and, therefore, " Son of the tempest" could not be the
interpretation of the name " Gill'-Onfhaidh." According to tradition, it was on a fine
day, when there were but small waves on Lochiel, that the author of the being of the
Camerons of that ilk was washed ashore. One person, who saw the casket containing
him, wanted to get a boat and see what the value of this " flotsam" might be, and
save it from becoming "jetsam." Another person present assured him that he
might wait with patience; that the force of the waves would soon send it ashore —
" Cuiridh onfhadh na tuinne gu tir e." This came to pass; and when they opened the
casket they found the child, and forthwith he was yclept "Gille-an-Onfhaidh." His
son, " Beolan Mor," the warrior, was the first Mac'ill'-Onfhaidh.
There is an old dancing tune still sung in Lochaber said to be composed about
Beolan, which shows that he was famous in more ways than one. It goes thus —
Mear thu, mear thu, mear thu,
Mear thu, mear thu, Mhic'ill'-Onfhaidh.
Bu mhath a bhiodh na h-igheanan,
Mur bhi' thu Mhic'ill'-Onfhaidh, &c.
The Macgillonys were never spoken of in Lochaber as Cloinn-'ic-'ill'-Onfhaidh;
it is invariably " Sliochd-'iU'-Onfhaidh."
It is not in connection with the name of Gille-an-Onfhaidh that the saying about
the " Toitean'' is quoted. The saying in Lochaber is " Mac gille-mhaoil an toitean,
a thainig air tir 's a Chorpaich." This was another waif of the ocean who became
the ancestor of the MacMillans of Loch-Arkaig, and the legend of the " toitean" is as
follows: —
When this child was washed ashore at Corpach, it was found that precautions of
I76 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
a curious kind were taken against his starving. A toitcan, or bit of flesh, was tied in
his hand, and he was sucking it. A string attached to his hand was fixed to his foot ;
the reason for this was easily seen. If the child were choking he would kick, and
then the string would pull the hand, with its dangerous morsel, away from the mouth.
It was never said of the Camerons that they were specially fond of flesh, although
the words of their Gathering Song began with " Thigibh an so, chlanna na'n con, 's
gheibh sibh feoil"— " Come hither, children of the dogs, and you'll get flesh." These
words merely rose incidentally out of the words of the Duke of Athol. True, the
bard that attacked " Ian Lorn" said:—
" Be abhaisd fir a bhraigh so,
Da thaobh Lochial is Arisaig,
Gu'm biodh sgian 's an darna brain air
Airson urrad ar a dh' fheoil."
Yet that did not refer specially to the Camerons more than to the other clans that oc-
cupied the regions referred to. Butter was the great luxury of the Camerons, as
handed down to us in a proverb to this day —
" Camshronaich bhog an ime,
Dh' itheadh an t-im 'bhar na sginne
Sileadhasabhlaich."
When the lifting of cattle was a gentlemanly occupation, the Camerons excelled
in it, as they have ever done in every deed of daring up to young Donald, who was
the first to mount the walls and fall dead at Tel-el-Kebir.
In reference to the bone that " Coirre-an-t-Sith" speaks of as handed by a Camp-
bell to a Cameron at a wedding, it was a common custom to hand the tail of a sheep,
when cut off the gigot, to any one present who was a bard, and he was expected
forthwith to compose some verses. This was done to Duncan Ban, in Edinburgh,
when at the marriage of a Macintyre girl. I only remember the first lines of his re-
sponse—
" O'n a fhuair mi e gun sireadh,
'S cinnteach mi gun dean e math dhomh,
Mi aig bainnis mo bhean chinnidh,
'S lamh a mhinistear ga ghearradh."
—I am, sir, &c., MARY MACKELLAR.
ROY'S WIFE.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
Manse of Ardoch, Braco, Perthshire, 2nd January 1883.
SIR,— In the December number of your Magazine there is a letter from the Rev
Allan Sinclair, in which he asks the following question, "Can you inform me whether
rant of Carron's song of 'Roy's wife' was originally composed in English or Gaelic?"
d which concludes by giving the Gaelic version. I think I am able to give Mr
nclair the required information. Originally composed in English, it was translated
Gaelic about fifty years ago by my grandfather, Mr Duncan Macnaughtan, at that
schoolmaster at Moreinsh, on Lochtayside, about three miles east from the village
AN AYRSHIRE CUSTOM, 17;
of Killin. It was never published, but it was given by him to a strolling musician, by
name, Duncan Macdiarmid, who went about the country teaching singing classes. My
father recognised the words at once on reading them in the pages of your Magazine.
My grandfather was in the habit of translating the better known English songs
and poems into his native language. Some of these were contributed by him to the
magazine called " The Gaelic Messenger," edited many years ago by Dr Norman Mac-
leod, the elder. My father has still in his possession the original manuscripts of the
following Gaelic translations :— "The Ode to the Cuckoo," by Logan ; " The^Better
Land," by Mrs Hemans; "The Graves of a Household," by the same; "The Des-
truction of Sennacherib," by Byron ; " Home, Sweet Home," " My Peggy is a young
thing," " Highland Mary," and " The Land o' the Leal." These, if of any interest
to your readers, he, I am sure, would be quite willing to place at their disposal.— I am,
yours, &c.,
GEORGE D. MACNAUGHTAN.
ON AN AYRSHIRE CUSTOM CALLED THE TAUNEL.— Lately from
notices in the Ardrossan Herald and in Notes and Queries, it is very interesting
to hear [that in Ayrshire, at, the end of harvest, children make a small fire by
the wayside, and call it a tauncl. They speak of it as the taunel. It is strange
that this word was not known to Dr Jamieson of the Scottish Dictionary. One cor-
respondent refers to the Gaelic teine, fire. Another refers to tional, gathering (as to
the harvest). If we refer to teine alone, the termination el is not accounted for. Re-
ferring to t tonal alone, there is no allusion made to fire, which seems to be essential.
Perhaps at some early period, it was called teine-tionail, the fire made on account of
the harvest. In the course of centuries, this may have been shortened by leaving out
the first word. This is possible, but not likely. To the consideration of the reader I
offer the following guess: — Taunel is from teine > fire and Beal, the god Baal, Bel or
Belus. Of Beal, the genative is Beil, or rather Bheil : bh is sounded like v. In the
course of twenty centuries it would easily happen that the sound of bh would be
slurred over, and then softened into nothing. Taunel is the fire of Baal ; Beltane i*
Baal's fire. Beside me I have six Gaelic dictionaries ; taunel is not to be found in
them. As some persons think that at one time that part of Scotland was occupied by
Celtic inhabitants of the Kymric division, I have looked at three Welsh dictionaries,
and cannot find the word. It is strange that the custom is not referred to in the two
Statistical Accounts. It would be well if observers in different parts of Scotland
would take the trouble to notice if such a custom exists in their neighbourhood. I do
not wish to interfere with the credit due to the correspondent who suggested teine; it
is the termination el that was not accounted for by him. It is strange that there is a
survival of Pagan worship among the seven-year-old members of the Ayrshire com-
munity. THOMAS STRATTON, M.D.
Devonport, Devon.
QUERY.
Ross. — Will any of the numerous readers of the Celtic Magazine kindly inform
me if the clan Ross are of Scandinavian origin ; if there is a sept of the Rosses of Nor-
man descent ; and, if Ross of Balnagown is acknowledged to be the head of the
Clan ? A TRANSATLANTIC ROSS.
M
i;8 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
THE HIGHLAND PROBLEM AND THE
GOVERNMENT PROGRAMME.
IN a leading article thus headed, the Greenock Telegraph of 5th
January says : —
That the present Ministry reflect the prevailing sentiments of the country with
unusual fulness and accuracy, may be freely admitted ; but there is at least one ques-
tion with respect to which we doubt whether the Government have yet succeeded in
realising the extent and depth of the feeling that exists in the constituencies. To-
wards the close of last session, it will be remembered, when Mr Macfarlane brought
forward his resolution relating to the condition of the Highlands, he met with but
scanty encouragement from the Ministerial benches. To the surprise and regret of
many of his best friends in Scotland, the Lord Advocate was found supporting the
monstrous contention of a Scottish member, who happens also to be a leading pro-
prietor in Argyllshire, that the Highlands have not been undergoing a process of de-
population. In common with several of our contemporaries, we ventured to express
our astonishment, not unmingled with indignation, at the line taken in the debate by
Mr Balfour; and further examination of the subject has certainly not tended to weaken
our sense of the great injustice to truth and to the Liberal Government, which the
Lord Advocate perpetrated when he lent the weight of his personal reputation and
official dignity to support statements of interested parties that were so inconsistent
with the facts of the case.
How far astray Mr Balfour wandered is demonstrated by the statistics which
the public-spirited editor of the Celtic Magazine supplies in the January number of
that excellent periodical. These show that since the census of 1831 the population of
the county of Argyll has actually declined from 100,973 to 76,468— a reduction of
nearly 25,000. Nor is this all, or the worst. As of the latter number no fewer than
30,387 are people belonging to urban populations in the county, we are conducted
to the conclusion that the rural population has in reality been reduced from 85,973 to
46,081. In other words, and to put it more plainly, the rural population in Argyll-
shire has within the last half century been reduced by nearly one-half ! in the teeth
of which tremendous and terrible fact, not only men like the Duke of Argyll, and Mr
Ramsay of Kildalton, but even the Lord- Advocate in Mr Gladstone's Government has
had the temerity to assert that Mr Macfarlane's comparatively moderate statement re-
specting depopulation was entirely unfounded.
Various incidents have brought the matter into bold relief during the interven-
ing months since the subject was discussed in the House of Commons. The case of
the Skye crofters, and that of the flagrant attempt to eject the crofters on the Kintail
?, have excited a very profound feeling all over the country, and the result of this
ill more emphatic demand that a Royal Commission shall be appointed to elicit
the actual facts, and to supply the Legislature with the materials for the setting right
which is most obviously wrong. We are pleased to see the demand uttered by
L! spokesmen, such as the new member for Liverpool, at the meeting of the
ion of Celtic Societies, held in the » Queen of the Mersey" on Tuesday. Mr
THE HIGHLAND PROBLEM. 179
Samuel Smith, M.P., though a Lowlander, has a knowledge of the Highlands, and
we rejoice to find a man of his high standing and well-known thoughtfulness declaring
his conviction that the Highland crofters are certainly entitled at the very least to
advantages as real and substantial as those which have been conferred upon the small
occupiers in Ireland. It is, indeed, little to the credit of the Government of this
country that a population so law-abiding, and in every respect so worthy, as that of
our Scottish Highlands should be neglected just because they bear their sufferings
with such pathetic meekness. The shameful paradox that is involved in this style of
treatment, compared with that which has been bestowed upon a nation of law-breakers,
has deeply impressed the hearts of thousands in the constituencies, and roused an
indignation which will, we believe, compel the Government to take action for the
purpose of redressing the wrongs to which our Highland compatriots have been sub-
jected for so many years.
The Christian Leader, a deservedly successful weekly, started
last year, under the editorship of the accomplished writer of
" Literary Notes " in the North British Daily Mail, makes the
following reference to the same state of things : —
The condition of the Highlands demands much more serious attention from our
statesmen than it has yet received; and it is a humiliating reflection that the duty is
neglected because of the peaceful and law-abiding character of the people. They
would probably be better attended to if they were less deserving. This is a sad blot
on our boasted civilisation.
It is so far satisfactory, however, to learn that in the closing hours of 1882 peace
was restored in the Island of Skye. Lord Macdonald, the absentee proprietor, after
a personal visit, has at last taken the step which it was his duty to have taken long
ago; the point urged, we believe with justice, by the crofters of the Braes has been
conceded, and they have at once hastened to pay their rents. If all the owners of the
soil in the North were animated by the humane sentiments of Mr Mackenzie of Kin-
tail, who has so nobly maintained the rights of his crofters against a sporting lessee
who puts his own selfish pleasure above every other consideration, we should soon see
a happier state of things among the Highlanders. The Laird of Kintail recognises
the fact that his crofters have a permanent and inalienable title to live in the land of
their fathers as well as himself— an admission which greatly shocks the hidebound
pedants who look upon a bit of modern parchment as the only basis of tenure. If Mr
Mackenzie's theory is not recognised as a valid one, it will simply show that history is
ignored, and law and justice in this connection dissevered.
The statements so very confidently advanced by the Duke of Argyll and Mr
Ramsay, M.P., and which Lord Advocate Balfour so readily accepted with respect to
the alleged depopulation of the Highlands, are refuted in a striking article which ap-
pears in the January number of the Celtic Magazine. Since the census of 1831 the
population of Argyllshire has actually declined from 100,973 to 76,468; and as of the
latter number no fewer than 30,387 are classified as urban, the conclusion is reached
that the rural population has been reduced in fifty years from 85,973 1046,081, or
nearly one-half! Yet a few months ago the three Liberal politicians above-named
were stoutly denying that the population had decreased.
,So THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
INVERNESS GAELIC SOCIETY— ELEVENTH ANNUAL
DINNER.
SPEECHES BY SIR KENNETH S. MACKENZIE OF GAIRLOCH, BARONET,
LORD-LIEUTENANT OF THE COUNTY OF ROSSj AND OTHERS.
THE annual dinner of the Gaelic Society of Inverness was held in the Station
Hotel, Inverness, on Tuesday night. There were over sixty gentlemen present.
The chair was occupied by Sir Kenneth S. Mackenzie of Gairloch, Bart., who was
supported— on the right by Mr Allan R. Mackenzie, yr. of Kintail; Dr Macnee,
Inverness; Provost Fraser; and Mr William Mackay, solicitor, Hon. Secretary of
the Society; and on the left by Councillor Macandrew, Sheriff-Clerk of Inverness-
shire; Mr Walter Carruthers, Gordonville; and Mr George J. Campbell, solicitor.
The vice-chairmen were Dean of Guild Mackenzie, Editor of the Celtic Magazine,
and Mr Colin Chisholm, Inverness. Among the assemblage were — Rev.-R. Mori-
son, Kintail; Dr F. M. Mackenzie, High Street; Mr Robert Grant, of Macdougall
and Co. ; Mr John Macdonald, banker, Buckie; Mr A. C. Mackenzie, Maryburgh ; Mi-
Roderick Macrae, Beauly; Mr James Fraser, Mauld; Mr Fraser, C.E., Inverness;
Mr Duncan, Fern Villa; Councillor W. G. Stuart; Mr James Barren, Editor of the
Inverness Courier; Mr Kenneth Macdonald, Town-Clerk; Mr Wm. Mackenzie,
clothier, Bridge Street ; Mr John Noble, Castle Street ; Mr Duncan Mactavish, agri-
cultural merchant; Mr Andrew Davidson, sculptor; Mr Finlay Maciver, Art Gallery,
Church Street ; Mr Alexander Mackenzie, merchant, Church Street ; Mr Griffin, In-
land Revenue; Mr Cockburn, Royal Academy; Mr Mackintosh, commission-agent;
Mr William Bain of the Courier; Mr Alexander Mactavish, Castle Street ; Councillor
Charles Mackay ; Mr Macraild, writer, Inverness ; Mr F. Campbell, draper, High
Street; Mr P. Campbell, Bridge Street; Mr Duncan Campbell, editor of the
Chronicle; Mr Nairne, sub-editor do.; Mr W. L. Henderson, of the Advertiser;
Mr Cameron, commercial traveller; Mr Macgregor, solicitor; Mr John E. Mac-
donald, Bridge Street ; Mr Mackintosh, ironmonger, High Street ; Mr John
Whyte, librarian; Mr Hector Maclennan, commercial traveller; Mr A. Macbain,
M.A., Raining's School; Mr Mackenzie, Caledonian Bank; Mr Gillanders, grocer ;
Mr Win. Gunn, draper, Castle Street; Mr Kenneth F.' Macrae, Flowerdale
Villa, Grcig Street ; Mr Ramsay, teacher ; Mr D. Chisholm, Castle Street ;
Mr Alick Campbell, Kyleakin, Skye; Mr Macbean, assistant inspector of poor ;
Mr T. D. Campbell, draper; Mr Mackinnon, book-agent; Mr F. Murray, Sunny-
side, Inverness; Mr William Mackenzie, secretary of the Society ; &c. Apologies for
unavoidable absence were received from several members. The Rev. Mr Morison
said grace, and returned thanks. Mr Cesari, the manager of the Hotel, served an
excellent dinner.
The Chairman proposed the Queen in Gaelic, eliciting much applause. After
the loyal toasts, and the toast of the Army, Navy, and Reserve Forces, replied to
by Major Macandrew, Mr Walter Carruthers proposed the Lords-Lieutenant of the
Highland Counties. The Secretary's report was then read. The work of the Society
THE INVERNESS GAELIC SOCIETY. 181
had during the year been carried on with success and promise. The income amounted
to £u$' 1 9s. 9d., and the expenditure to ,£94. ijs. 3d. There is thus a balance to
the good on the year of £21. 6s. 6d.
Sir Kenneth Mackenzie, on rising to propose the toast of the evening, was
received with loud and prolonged cheers. He spoke as follows : — We are all glad to
hear from the Secretary's report (which has just been read) of the prosperity of the
Society during the past year. It had of late suffered to a certain extent from the want
of a proper place to meet in, but now it has been provided with most suitable quarters
in the Free Library Buildings, where its meetings will take place with greater regu-
larity than they have recently been doing, and as we have all seen from the news-
papers a successful beginning was made last week, when a paper was read by my
friend the Dean of Guild. (Cheers.) We have had losses in the past year to regret,
but we have had no defections from our ranks. Chief among our losses is that of Mr
Jolly, whose departure from Inverness the North of Scotland has had reason to regret.
(Applause.)
NON-POLITICAL CHARACTER OF THE SOCIETY.
But our constitution has been so interpreted by the good sense of the Society
as to avert anything like that tendency to disruption which the Scotsman thinks
is inherent in Celtic organisations. We have declined to be turned into a political
association — (Applause) — have thrown cold water on the attempt to introduce party
politics at our meetings, and have so been able to retain a membership of persons of
all shades of political opinions. (Applause.) The Society has gone so far in its
determination to be neutral as to have practically withdrawn from the Federation of
Celtic Societies, because the Federation was identifying itself with certain demands
for land law reform and extension of the franchise that partook of a party character.
Not that there are not many of our members who, as individuals, sympathise in these
demands, but even they are of opinion that, as a Society, we should have nothing to
do with any movement that would risk our disruption, and wisely, therefore, as I think,
the Society limits its aim to those which are either of a literary or social character.
(Applause.)
THE OBJECTS OF THE SOCIETY,
As set forth in the second article of its constitution, may be classed under three heads.
There is first, the cultivation of the Gaelic language ; then the rescuing from oblivion
of unrecorded Celtic literature and traditions ; and, lastly, the furtherance of the
interests of the people of the Highlands. As regards the first of these objects, the
Society did at one time take active steps to cultivate a grammatical knowledge of
Gaelic among its members and other residents in Inverness. But it has done in-
directly a much greater service than this. It found in existence, among many of those
who thought themselves the more educated Highlanders, a false shame of their mother
tongue, and this Society and kindred influences have been the means of absolutely
and entirely dissipating that feeling. (Cheers.) We have also occasionally offered
prizes in school districts for the study of Gaelic. This year we are holding a com-
petition in Lochaber, and as that is a thoroughly Highland district, the competition is
expected to be veiy successful. The Society may, therefore, claim to have been
fairly carrying out the objects at which it aimed in respect to the cultivation of the
Gaelic language. (Cheers.) Hardly so much can be said for it in reference toils
proposal to rescue from oblivion
1 82 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
CELTIC LITERATURE AND TRADITIONS.
For the contents of the Secretary's Celtic portfolio, the Society is much indebted
to him. But for these the Society's Transactions would of late years have been, I
fear, rather barren. In the way of rescuing traditions that may throw light on na-
tional history, nothing has yet been done, and among our members there should be
some, I think, who ought to be able to gather up matters of this sort that would be
extremely interesting. There is no doubt among Highlanders a delicate sensitiveness
with regard to the reputation of their race, and they dread publishing anything that
might seem, in the remotest degree, to reflect on the manners or character of their
ancestors. This is an estimable sentiment, but it may be carried too far. Under no
garb do we find humanity reaching perfection, and if this Society is to carry out its
intention of recording tradition, it must be content to show the Highlands of old as
they were, not as we might wish they had been ; to record the failings as well as the
virtues of the time. If unwarranted illusions exist we must not fear to dispel them.
No doubt we should sift the traditions as far as we can, always taking care, however,
not to colour them by our own prejudices, and remembering that the first of all re-
quirements in writing history is absolute veracity. Now, gentlemen, there are his-
torical questions connected with the Highlands on which we very much want the
light of tradition cast. You may have noticed that Dr Cameron, one of our legis-
lators, who takes a warm and generous interest in the Highlands, said lately at Liver-
pool, and, I think, has said it in the House of Commons, that, " Prior to the rising of
1745, the Highland occupiers had a distinct proprietory right on the soil they tilled."
Here you have a historical statement, undoubtedly made in all good faith by a man of
reputation, in proof of which there is no accessible documentary evidence that I know
of. The statement is no doubt made on the strength of traditions that have come to
Dr Cameron's knowledge. Why should not this Society gather up any traditions it
can relative to ancient land tenure in the Highlands? That, gentlemen, would be a
distinct object to set before us, and, I think, too, that it is one which is worthy of a
Society such as this. (Applause.) It is not a political question. It is a question
simply of historical interest, and one on which it is well that the world should be en-
lightened. Rights which have lapsed for nearly a century and a-half can have no
practical bearing in virtue of their previous existence on contemporary politics, and
their investigation cannot be barred by anything in the nature of party feeling, since
the interest they possess is purely historical. Again, we have constant reference to
the
MILITARY ARDOUR OF THE HIGHLANDERS
In the latter half of the last century, as shown in the great number of regiments then
here. There is no question regarding the number of regiments that were raised
here any as to the excellence of the material of which they were composed.
ighland regiments have always been remarkable for their valour and their good
>ur, and have distinguished themselves whenever brought into action under fit
iders. (Cheers.) But was there really a great deal of military ardour in the
ds during the last century ? We are quite in the dark, so far as printed records
oncerned as to whether, when these regiments were first raised, the rank and
:ed of their own free will to the standard, or whether they were pressed into
* by chiefs and lairds who wanted commissions for their sons. (Hear, hear,
ic time is not yet so distant but that ample traditionary information
ubject should be procurable, There are very curious and startling tales in
THE INVERNESS GAELIC SOCIETY. 183
this connection in and around the district whence our secretary comes which it might
not be difficult for him to get recorded. He has already, I learn, given a lecture on
the Highland regiments, which must have turned his attention in this direction. In
any case, investigation by those competent to conduct it, whether confirming the
belief in the military ardour of the last century Highlander or not, could not fail to
produce interesting results. (Cheers.) Other points will doubtless cross your minds
on which it would be desirable to gather up traditional history, and in doing which
the Society would be carrying out the literary part of its programme more fully than
it has of late years done. I cannot pass from the reference to Celtic literature without
congratulating the Society that Professor Blackie's
CELTIC CHAIR
Is now filled ; a great event for the Celtic scholars of Scotland. Whoever occupies
my position here next year will, I hope, be able to speak of the work the new pro-
fessor has performed. At present, while looking forward to this with interest and
hope, we still find ourselves thinking of him to whose untiring efforts the founding
of the Chair is solely due, who never ceases to advocate what he thinks the rights,
and to vindicate the character of the Gaelic people, and who, in pursuit of this object,
had last year published a most interesting work of fiction, dealing with social questions
in the Highlands, which, in too complimentary terms, he has been good enough to dedi-
cate to me. (Applause.) I suppose most of you have read "Altavona," and have
seen how warm and generous towards all good Highlanders is the feeling that breathes
through it. (Applause.) All honour to Professor Blackie. (Cheers.) He has now
retired from his profession, but may he have long enjoyment of his well-earned repose,
and always feel assured that, as sympathy begets sympathy, so Highlanders, whether
agreeing with him in all things or not, will never forget what he has done for them, or
fail to reciprocate the kindly feelings he has shown them. (Cheers.) He is very keen
at present to provide a prize fund of about ^140 a-year for the more effective working
of the Celtic Chair. He is very sanguine about getting it. He does not ask for a
capital sum to produce this income, but for an annual contribution from all the Gaelic
and Highland Societies throughout the kingdom. The object is a good one, and I
commend it to the Gaelic Society of Inverness. (Applause.)
TESTIMONIAL TO PROFESSOR BLACKIE.
I cannot leave this subject without calling the attention of the gentlemen here
present to the testimonial from Highlanders which is to be presented to the Pro-
fessor. Our friend is the last man in the world to measure gratitude by a golden
standard, and he knows well enough that we have not the wealth of the great com-
mercial centres; yet I hope we shall all do what we can to make this a substantial
mark of our appreciation of the Professor's services. (Cheers.) In connection with
the Society's relations to Celtic literature, let me remind members that we have a
bard of our own —
MRS MARY MACKELLAR,
the most gifted, I suppose, of the Gaelic poets of the day. Rather to our discredit, a
testimonial which it was lately proposed to present her to some extent fell through.
Literary labour is not very remunerative, and I daresay the appreciation of her coun-
trymen might not be unacceptably shown to Mrs Mackellar, in demanding for her one
of those pensions from the Civil List sometimes bestowed on literary workers. (Ap-
plause.) So far as I know, no Gaelic worker is in receipt of such a pension. One
I84 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
such we might surely have in recognition of the Highland tongue, and I would pro-
pose that we correspond with kindred societies and get up a combined petition for
the bestowal of a pension on Mrs Mackellar, and that Mr Fraser-Mackintosh or Dr
Cameron be asked to support it. (Loud applause. )
THE RIGHTS OF THE HIGHLANDERS.
The third object of the Society was to further the interests of the people of the
Highlands. I have already referred to the fact that we have thought it right not to
enter on party questions in doing this. The abstract rights of the existing occupiers
of the soil, the rights they ought to have as distinct from those they possess, we leave
to others to discuss, satisfied if we can create a public opinion which shall lead the
legal owners of land to take a pride in the well-being of their tenantry, induce them to
foster the Highlander in his own country, and to improve his position, and to advance
his interests there. (Cheers.) We think that as a Society, we are confining our aims
to that with which we are most fitted to deal when we occupy ourselves with social to
the exclusion of political questions, and in so doing we gather strength from members
of all political parties which we should otherwise fail to secure. (Applause.) It is
perhaps not easy to point to any particular event which marks our success in influ-
encing public opinion, but within the period we have been associated, the more de-
pendent members of our Highland population have come to be regarded, I think,
with increased tenderness, and that is, so far, evidence that in this department our
Society's influence has not been exerted in vain. (Cheers.) It is not, however, with
proprietors only that our influence may avail for good. If the proprietors can do
something for their tenants, these may also do something for themselves.
DISTRESS AND OVERCROWDING IN THE WEST.
We have this year, unhappily, a great scarcity on the West Coast. The un-
fortunate circumstances which exist just now in the Lews, and to which such promin-
ence has been given, obtain to an almost equal degree through the islands and coasts
of the West. Potatoes have been nearly an absolute failure. The grain crop was to
a great extent swept away by the gale of ist October, and the fishing has not been
successful. We have had no year that threatens to approach so nearly to one of
famine since 1848, and though I feel very strongly that the distribution of public
charity is demoralising to its recipients, and that no appeal for it should be made while
it can be avoided ; yet I am afraid that to prevent starvation it will be necessary to
offer some amount of public relief in many parts of the West Coast besides the Lews
before the next crop comes in, and I think the Society might with advantage en-
deavour to ascertain what the extent of the scarcity is likely to be, and to promote, if
need be, a public subscription to meet it. A famine is threatened, and I am afraid
there will be absolute starvation before the next crop is gathered in. But while feeling
deeply, as we all must, for the suffering likely to ensue, and doing our best to avert
it, one cannot help asking, "Are these West Coast populations always to continue so
living from hand to mouth as to necessitate a reliance on outside help when unfavour-
able seasons occur ?" I hope not. We have crofter populations on the East Coast
who are as independent as any of that class of life in Britain. They are no doubt
more favourably placed than their fellows on the West for obtaining employment for
wages. On the other hand, they have, as a rule, no hill pasture, no fish at their doors,
and, commonly enough, no peats. I can show you in the Black Isle crofts of five
acres as well cultivated as any of the large farms adjacent to them, and whose occupiers,
THE INVERNESS GAELIC SOCIETY. 185
if they do not live in luxury, are yet never in the course of their lives in fear of want.
Individual cases of misfortune there may be among them, but these are all within reach
of local effort. But none of these crofters would dream of subdividing their crofts
among their family, nor does it occur to the young men to marry without providing a
home for their bride. Unfortunately it too frequently happens in the West Coast and
in the Islands that no such feeling of providence prevents many of the young people
from marrying and settling on their parent's croft, subdividing among two or more
families a piece of ground already barely sufficient to maintain one. Overcrowding is
there an evil against which proprietors, if they wish to do their duty, must resolutely
set their faces, for it necessarily tends to starvation and misery, and to the destruction
of that independence which more than anything else incites to the maintenance of law
and order. (Cheers.) Outsiders speak of the prohibition of marriage, which is heard
of on West Coast properties, as an instance of landlord tyranny, not understand-
ing that it is not marriage that is objected to, but the settling of two families where
there is room only for one. (Hear, hear.) It may be contended — and I believe with
perfect truth — that the early marriages in the West account largely for the high tone
of sexual morality there. I believe that is quite true; but, after all, that is a one-sided
morality surely which would encourage the increase of the population without provid-
ing for its sustenance. On
THE CROFTER QUESTION
I speak from an experience, and from opportunities of observation possessed by com-
paratively few of those who make it the subject of their criticism. For close on
thirty years I have had personal dealings with some five hundred crofter tenants, be-
tween whom and myself, I think I may say without presumption, there has been the
utmost mutual confidence. (Cheers.) Gentlemen, I know their feelings pretty well,
and from all I have seen and heard in other parts of the West, I know the people
themselves "recognise as fully as I do, that their poverty results from overcrowding,
though individually they may be unable to resist the temptation to squat on a parent's
croft. Now, there may be properties (though they are certainly not so numerous as is
frequently assumed), where more elbow room might be given to the crofters without
shifting them from their present homes. (Applause. ) There may be others where
relief from the pressure of population might be obtained by colonising large farms ;
but this would require an expenditure beyond the means of most proprietors and
crofters. Where, however, such measures are practicable it would certainly be de-
sirable to resort to them. There are strong reasons for not thinning population by
COMPULSORY EVICTION,
irrespective of its cruelty. (Cheers.) Even did it result in bettering the material
condition, both of those who go and those who remain, it leaves with the former a
bitter sense of wrong, and creates in the latter a feeling of insecurity. Moreover,
human nature, and especially Highland nature, resents improvements forced on it.
(Cheers.) The spread of education will, I am confident, have a marked effect upon
the position of the West Coast crofter. Already are greater habits of providence
showing themselves in the younger generation wherever schools have been efficient,
and when these habits have become general, overcrowding will cease, and I venture
to think there will then be an end to the necessity for appeals for relief when unfor-
tunate seasons occur. (Applause.)
A PERSONAL EXPLANATION.
Allow me before I sit down to say a word personal to myself. It has been
N
!86 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
brought under my notice by more than one individual that a certain ambiguity in
words which I last year used in all innocency of heart has led the small tenantry of
the North to look askant on me as one who is unfriendly towards them, and who
would willingly see them supplanted. If there were any truth whatever in the sus-
picion that I harbour such thoughts, I should be very much out of place in this chair.
(Applause.) The confidence of Gaelic-speaking people in this Society would very
naturally and very properly be shaken, and I think it right, in the interests of the
Society, as well as for my own credit, to take this opportunity of repudiating any such
ideas. (Cheers.) On the occasion I have referred to, I did undoubtedly express the
opinion that the tendency of modern agriculture in Britain was to throw farming more
and more into the hands of capitalists, but I also took occasion to say that this tend-
ency, which I thought I saw, was one which I personally deplore. (Cheers.) I
should be very glad indeed to think that my fears were altogether groundless, and I
saw some facts stated lately which certainly lead to the conclusion that I was mis-
taken. Within the last ten days the Scotsman noticed a Parliamentary return, from
which it appeared that between 1875 and 1880 there was in the county of Ross an in-
crease of 331 in the number of holdings of less than 50 acres extent. That is a fact
which should give us all great satisfaction, because concurrently with this, I think
(making allowance for the depression of the times) that there has been no real check to
that continuous improvement in the condition of the smaller tenantry and of the
labouring classes, the progress of which has been so marked in the last thirty-five
years. (Applause.) Be the tendency of the time, however, what it may, the small
tenants of the North have no sincerer friend than they have in me, and I think they
may rest assured that the Society is most anxious to use such influence as it possesses
for their good. (Applause. ) Let us hope that that influence, directed as it is to
social reforms, and exerted with a just moderation, may be a power for good among
all classes in the Highlands ; and let me beg that each and all of you, while firmly re-
solving to do what you can towards realising this hope, will now join me heartily in
drinking success to the Gaelic Society of Inverness. (Loud cheers.)
Mr Allan R. Mackenzie, yr. of Kintail, proposed our Highland Members of Par-
liament in appropriate terms.
Councillor H. C. Macandrew, in proposing Celtic Literature and the Celtic
Chair, said— Celtic literature is one of the objects which this Society took upon itself
to cultivate, and I think many members of the Society are now in the position, as I
am myself, of knowing very much more of Celtic literature since the Society began
than they did before. I know that it was a very common opinion that Celtic litera-
ture was confined to some poems of doubtful origin, known under the name of Ossian,
and to some songs which we may have heard sung by the people among whom we
may have mingled. But now, I have nc doubt, many of you know that Celtic litera-
ture was of very wide extent, and that, while the Saxons and the Normans, whom we
have hitherto been taught to look upon as superior beings, were, as we know now,
ignorant barbarians, Celtic literature had attained a high position among the litera-
tures of the world. We know also that, while the ancestors of our Norman aris-
tocracy were totally ignorant of learning, and, in many instances, were plundering Celtic
monasteries, the Culdee monks were wandering all over Europe, planting a literature
and a religious civilisation which have enabled a learned German, who never was in
England, Scotland, or Ireland, to compile a grammar of the Celtic language— a work
rt only of great learning, and of great merit as a work of the kind, but one of very
high philological interest and value. Many of you know also that, contemporary
THE INVERNESS GAELIC SOCIETY. 18;
with that literature, there grew up with our ancestors in Ireland a school of art, which
attained a very high degree of perfection, and of which we have many examples sent
down. The ornamentations of these days in wood work and metal work are finer,
perhaps, than can be seen in any part of the world, and our house ornamenters, our
ornamenters of books— ornamental workers of almost every kind — have endeavoured
vainly to imitate the work of that simple people who lived in bee-hive houses, or in
the wood and stone monasteries scattered among the rocky coasts of Scotland and
Ireland. We can trace to these days— we can indeed trace to the hands of St
Columba — one of the most beautiful ornamentations of a missal in the world.
Since that time very great changes have taken place. We get day by day great con-
tributions to the Celtic literature from the sister country of Ireland, and if anybody
might pass a criticism, one cannot but be struck in reading these contributions with
the characteristic, in the higher style of literature, of its intrinsic purity. I do not
know if there is a high-class poem in any language which a person could read in a
mixed assembly of men and women without a blush upon the check, except the poem
ofOssian. (Applause.) While the poetry of chivalry, which was supposed to teach
high ideas of female virtue and military heroism, became foul in its tendency, these
old Gaelic poems remained pure as the light of day. (Applause.) How this vener-
able art of poetry works has been handed down to us, we all know, and learn more
and more every day ; but it is an important consideration whether Celtic literature
shall continue to be a living literature, or whether it must in future be one dependent
upon the records of the past. A foreign language has forced itself in upon us ; foreign
manners and customs have over-ridden the Celtic life which existed long ago. I have
been one of those who have always said that the preservation of the Celtic people was
ayduty even higher than the preservation of their literature. The first time I spoke to
this Society, I got a rebuke from Professor Blackie for uttering this sentiment, to
which I still adhere, and I am glad to say Professor Blackie and others have now
adopted the same view. (Applause.) While it should be the aim of the Society to
preserve the native race upon the soil, it would well become the people to cultivate
literature, and it is an encouraging thing to find that so many people not only speak
the language fluently but use it to give expression to their highest thoughts. Poetry
deals with the highest feelings and actions of a people, as these stand forth in history.
The highest and the noblest expressions of the feelings and the actions of a people
have come forth long after the existence of those feelings, and the performance of those
actions themselves. The poems of Homer were written long after the siege of Troy ;
and it is only when all that has been known of the life of a people stands out in the
forefront that literature begins to express itself. Whether Celtic literature has a future
or not, we know this, that Celtic literature has had a being, and we know also
that among the Celtic people there have existed feelings and actions which
may well inspire hope as to its future. Long after the ideas of chivalry had
vanished from the world the people of our Scottish Highlands rose as one man for
the cause of a prince whose ancestors no living man had seen on the throne.
They risked their fortunes, they risked their lives — many of them sacrificed their lives
— to restore the representative of that ancient race to an ancient possession. I have
often thought that, when the time comes when that story stands forth in all its truth,
n all its glory — when the high, noble, and chivalrous feelings of the people shall
have been fully and properly appreciated — there can be no nobler theme for an epic
poem in the world. We may well hope that the story of that memorable period of
the history of the Celtic people of Scotland will yet be chronicled in a %way worthy of
j88 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
the actions themselves, and of the chivalrous feelings which prompted them. (Ap-
plause.) Councillor Macandrew in conclusion, referred to the Celtic Chair, and com-
mended the wisdom of the Universities in selecting a gentleman conversant not only
with modern Gaelic, but the ancient language and its literature.
Mr Wm. Mackenzie, secretary of the Society, who replied to this toast, after
alluding generally to some of Councillor Macandrew's observations, said — In the few
seconds allotted to me I will endeavour to glance as briefly as possible at the character
of our literature, the vicissitudes it has undergone, and its present state (Cheers.)
ENGLISH WORKS BEARING ON CELTIC SUBJECTS.
In speaking of Celtic literature, I will mainly confine my observations to works
composed in the Celtic languages, and will not trouble you by dwelling on the numer-
ous works written in English bearing on Celtic literature and antiquities. But stand-
ing as I do before this meeting in the Highland capital, it would be unpardonable in
me if I failed to notice the many excellent works falling under this category which are
published at our own doors. (Hear, hear.) The literary activity of our friend, Mr
Alex. Mackenzie — (Applause) — is well known to most m embers of this Society, but I
have no doubt you will all be surprised to learn that during the past eight years he has
written and published not fewer than twenty-two different volumes— (Cheers)— all of
which I believe, have been financially a success. (Cheers.) Time will not permit of my
dwelling on Welsh literature, and with regard to it, it is sufficient to state that
not only is it very extensive, but it is also in a most flourishing condition. (Cheers.)
Now, to deal more in detail with our own Gaelic literature — (Hear, hear.)
GAELIC LITERATURE — ITS CHARACTER.
That literature is in the main poetical. Is the Gael, it will perhaps be asked,
such a poetical animal— (Laughter) — that he disdains giving expression to his senti-
ments in prose ? Not exactly, but there are certain causes which account for the pre-
dominance of poetry over prose in his literature. The first stage of a language is that in
which the songs and poems are rehearsed, and rhythmical verse, it is generally acknow-
ledged, is the first form of composition. The rude primeval tribes went forth to war,
and the praises of the victors or the lamentations for the slain were recorded in verse.
(Cheers.) The bards composed and rehearsed their narratives in verse, and their
words were handed down from generation to generation on the lips of the people.
The same could not happen in the case of prose. However graphic a prose account
the Seanachie might compose of any particular event, it would not be handed down
to posterity in the original words : each narrator would employ his own language.
(Cheers.) "Is math bu ch6ir na h-6rain a dheanamh an toiseach 's a liuthad fear-
millidh 'th'orra"— (Laughter)— (Songs ought to be well composed at first, for those
who spoil them are many)— said the bard. If that be in any measure true of poetry,
where the memory is aided by measured lines and rhymes, how much more must it be
true in the case of prose ? (Cheers.) In a country like the Highlands, where the art
of writing was not of old general, need we wonder if the bards and seanachies who
were naturally anxious that their compositions should go down to posterity in as perfect
a form as possible, adopted the means best calculated to attain that end, namely,
rhymed verse. And hence the abundance of poetry in the literature of the Gael.
(Cheers.)
GAELIC PROSE LITERATURE.
In the case of rising nationalities, the spread of letters carries in its train the cul-
n of prose, but that has not occurred in the case of the Highlands. Attempts
THE INVERNESS GAELIC SOCIETY. 189
made to get up an original prose literature were not crowned with success ; and the
Teachdaire Gaidhealach, Fear-Tathaich nani Beann, Cuairtear nan Gkann> the Gaidk-
eal, and others, have all failed to secure for themselves a permanent footing. And
why has this been the case ? There were no doubt certain more or less unfortunate
circumstances, to which I need not more particularly allude, connected with several
of these publications themselves ; but the real explanation of their failure is owing to
other and more deeply-rooted causes. (Cheers.)
OBJECTS FOR WHICH PARISH SCHOOLS WERE ESTABLISHED.
Chief among these was the influence exerted by the clergy and the lairds, coupled
with the total neglect of the language itself as a medium and means of instruction.
(Cheers.) The Act of the Privy Council for the foundation of our parish schools,
which is dated loth December 1616, declared "That the vulgar Inglish toung be
universallie plantit, and the Irishe, which is one of the chiefe and principall causis of
the continewance of barbaritie and incivilitie amongis the inhabitants of the His and
Heylandis be abolisheit and removeit." (Laughter and applause.) That, gentlemen,
was the resolution of the Privy Council of 266 years ago, but notwithstanding all the
influence exerted to carry it into effect, the " Irishe language"— that is the Gaelic — has
not been "abolisheit and removeit" quite yet. (Loud Applause.)
WEST HIGHLAND LAIRDS.
In the case of the West Highland lairds the want of a knowledge of English was
a very serious disability ; for the Privy Council in the same year passed an act in
which the Island chiefs were accused of " neglecting the education of their children,"
and declaring that had they been sent " to the inland in thairyouthe, and thair traynit
vp in vertew, learnyng, and the Inglish tunge, thay wold baif bene bettir preparit to
reforme thair countreis and to reduce the same to Godliness, obedience, and civilitie."
(Laughter.) It was therefore ordained and enacted " that the haill chiftanes and prin-
cipall clannit men of the Yllis, that thay and every ane of them, send thair bairnis
being past nyne yeiris of age to the scoollis in the inland to be trayned vp in virtew,
learnyng, and the Inglish tunge." It was also ordained " that no personis quhatsom-
evir in the Yllis salbe servit air to thair faither or uther predicessouris, nor acknow-
legit as tenentis to his Maiesty, vnless they can write, reid, and speake Inglische."
(Laughter.) The lairds so completely conformed to this act that not only did they
learn English, but they lost all knowledge of Gaelic, until to-day a Gaelic-speaking
Highland proprietor, such as our Chairman of this evening, is a Rara Avis indeed.
They are, however, beginning to see their mistake, and although the present Lochiel
and the present Lord Macdonald, for instance, are both unacquainted with Gaelic, the
same cannot be said of their sons, who are acquiring an intimate knowledge of the
ancient tongue.
THE HIGHLAND CLERGY.
But while the influence of the lairds in the past was more or less passive as against
the cultivation of Gaelic literature, the influence of the Highland clergy as a class
was actively asserted against it, if I exclude such notable exceptions as the Dean
of Lismore in the distant past; Dr Thomas Ross, Dr John Smith, Dr Norman
Macleod, and Dr Mackintosh Mackay in more recent times; and Dr Maclauch-
lan, Rev. William Ross, Rev. Alexander Cameron, Rev. Alexander Stewart, our
late friend the Rev. Mr Macgregor— (Applause) — in our own time ; and in the same
connection I must allude to the reverend gentleman who is here with us this evening
190 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
—the Rev. Mr Morison, Kintail— (Applause)— a gentleman who has been interesting
himself in all Celtic movements, and from whose manse are now going forth to the
public numerous genuine Highland melodies which every lover of Highland music
ought to possess. (Applause.) From the days of Bishop Carswell down to our own
times, the influence of the Highland clergy has been in the main strongly against
whatever was secular in Celtic prose, poetry, and music. Carswell, who was appointed
Bishop of the Isles in 1 564, set himself in opposition to the bards and seanachies of
the time; and, in the dedicatory epistle to his famous prayer-book, he says that "great
is the blindness and darkness of sin and ignorance and of understanding among the
composers, and writers, and supporters of the Gaelic, in that they prefer and practice
the framing of vain, hurtful, lying, earthly stories about the Tuath de Dannan, and
about the sons of Milesius, and about the heroes, and Fionn MacCumhail, with his
giants," than to write and compose more sacred things. (Cheers.) The result of
Carswell's attitude was that, instead of his becoming a successful agent in the spread
of religion, he became exceedingly unpopular, and a butt for the Gaelic wits and
satirists of the time. But his clerical successors in the West did not profit by his
example; for to the present day they persist in following the identical course which
brought about his unpopularity. (Cheers.)
THE BAGPIPE A CONTRABAND ARTICLE.
To a large proportion of the West Highland clergy of the present day, anything secular
is regarded as unholy. (Laughter. ) The bagpipe is a contraband article, which is as
carefully concealed from the eye of the pastor, as an illicit still is concealed from the eye
of the gauger— (Laughter)— and woe betide the man who has music or dancing at his
wedding against the wish of his minister, if he should ever have occasion to ask that
minister to perform the rite of baptism. (Laughter and applause.)
BIGOTRY OF SOME CLERGYMEN.
I know of one West Highland minister who has not for many a day spoken to his
nearest neighbour of the same denomination, because that neighbour committed the
heinous sin of attending a soiree or concert where a number of secular songs were
sung ! (Applause.) Another divine in the same locality has recently been in a state
of great agitation because an important personage in the district, whom he had hitherto
regarded as pious, had actually so far forgotten himself as to partake in a shinty
match, or something of that description! (Laughter.) From this clergyman's turn of
mind one would naturally expect to find in him an admirer of works of imagination—
(Laughter)— for at no distant date he sought to enlighten his Gaelic hearers by nar-
rating to them a dialogue which, he said, took place between Jonah when in the belly
of the whale and a number of little fishes who were his associates there ! — (Laughter
and applause. ) To quote the rev. gentleman's own words — " lasgan beaga groda 's
faileadh loibhte 'n Diabhuil fhein diubh." (Great laughter.) But this interesting con-
versation came to an abrupt end, for on account of the rolling of the whale and the raging
of the turbulent billows, poor Jonah became sea-sick ! (Great laughter. ) To this man
and many of his class a Gaelic song is simply a work of the devil, and all the influence
they possess is asserted against secular Celtic literature. (Cheers.) The result is that
healthy secular literature is being banished by them, while it is extremely doubtful if the
interests of true religion are thereby promoted. (Hear, hear, and cheers.) But not-
withstanding all the influences to which I have alluded, the Highlanders have a very
considerable literary heritage, of which we well may feel proud. (Cheers.)
THE INVERNESS GAELIC SOCIETY. 191
IRISH LITERATURE.
Our Irish cousins, too, can boast of literary treasures in poetry and prose — works
by the way with which all educated Gaelic-speaking Highlanders ought to be more
intimately acquainted than they unfortunately are. Such works as the* annals of the
Four Masters — compiled by Franciscan monks — and the History of Ireland, by Dr
Keating, are relics of antiquity which possess far more interest to me than much of
our modern romance. (Applause ) The work of the Four Masters, for instance,
which was begun in 1632, gives minute — and also amusing— details of facts and
fictions of the remote past. Beginning with the creation of the world, it narrates im-
portant events in almost every year downwards to the time of the Four Masters them-
selves. (Applause.) We are told, for instance, that forty days before the flood
Ceasair, a grand-daughter of Noah, came to Ireland with fifty girls and three men ;
and Dr Keating, in his "For.us feasa air Eirinn," alluding to the same event, quotes the
following verse from an ancient chronicler in proof of his statement : —
" Ceasair Inghion Bheatha buain,
Dalta Sabhail mhic Manuaill,
An cheid-bhean chalma ro chinn
D'inis Banbha rd n-dilinn."
Dr Keating also gives an account of the creation of Adam, and goes on to state that
when he (Adam) was fifteen years of age he was blessed with a son and daughter.
(Laughter.) Sir Kenneth may regret the prevalence of early marriages on the West
Coast, but I don't think the Western Celts can compare with Adam in that respect.
(Great laughter.) Twins at the age of fifteen is not an event that is common in
these climes. (Laughter.) Adam next adds to his race when he is 30 — twins again
— (Laughter)— and when he is 130 his youngest son Seth is born— very respectable
intervals between the different events. (Laughter.) Among other items of in-
formation to which our author treats us, I must not fail to mention his detailed
account of the conquests of Ireland before the flood. (Laughter.) And now,
in conclusion, let me briefly glance at the present and the future, and at the pre-
sent moment the Celtic field displays considerable literary activity. We have the
Celtic Magazine in Inverness dealing with the history, antiquities, and social condition
of the Highlands; the Scottish Celtic Review in Glasgow dealing with the language
philologically; and the Revue Celtique in Paris, in which learned foreigners discuss
numerous questions in connection with our race. Two months ago a valuable addition
has been made to our magazine literature, for then the Gaelic Union— an Irish Society
somewhat similar to our own —started their Gaelic Journal, a publication which bids
fair to be a success. (Applause. ) But while all these are of interest in themselves,
we, in Scotland at the present time, look, perhaps, with even greater interest to the
CELTIC CHAIR,
which has just been fully established. (Applause.) The new Professor, who if he
could would have been with us to-night, is a Highlander, who, by sheer hard work,
raised himself to his present honourable position. (Applause.) He is in the prime
of life, and if intelligence, activity, and perseverance will ensure success, we may con-
fidently look forward to excellent Celtic work under the guidance of Professor Mac-
kinnon. (Applause.) In particular, we may reasonably hope that the Highland
clergy of the future will look upon our secular Celtic literature — whether written or
floating over the country— as a treasure to be preserved, rather than as a demon tp be
suppressed.
i92 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
CONCLUSION.
In this age when a knowledge of English is an absolute necessity to ensure success
in life, I do not know that we need look to a great spread of Celtic literature. It
therefore, all the more behoves us to use our every endeavour to rescue from oblivion
the literary treasures which our Highland forefathers have bequeathed to us, not only
that we may ourselves be benefitted thereby, but also that the wit and wisdom which
are so characteristic of the literature of the Gael may be objects of admiration, as well
as sources of instruction, to generations yet unborn. (Loud cheers.)
Mr William Mackayj proposing the Agricultural Interests of the Highlands, said
— On this occasion it may not be out of place to glance shortly at the state of agricul-
ture in the past, and on the relationship that of old existed between landlord and
tenant. I am sorry to say that on these points very erroneous ideas prevail, and as no
good can come from drawing pictures of the past which, however beautiful and pleasing
to us, are historically untrue, I shall endeavour to indicate briefly how matters really
stood, as shown by ancient leases, minutes of baron courts, and other original docu-
ments. First, the feudal system, about which one hears a great deal of nonsense
now-a-days spoken, was established in the Highlands as early as the thirteenth
century, since which time the chiefs have held the lands as absolute proprietors under
written titles in terms similar to those which were common over the rest of Scotland.
In virtue of these titles the chiefs exercised the rights of ownership, and leased the
lands to tenants for rent or other consideration. As a fair example of the ancient
Highland lease, I may refer to one, granted in 1631 by Sir Duncan Campbell of Glen-
orchy to Ronald Campbell, of the lands of Elrig and others, for a period of five years.
By this document the tenant binds himself to pay to the proprietor a yearly money
rent of ^15. 135. 4d. Scots; to supply him yearly with six firlots bear, 172 stones of
cheese, the half of a good cow— (Laughter) — six sufficient wedders, a gallon of sufficient
aquavitse— (Laughter)— and a white plaid; to be ready himself with four good men to
serve Sir Duncan in his wars; and to give the services of himself and other six men " in
other employments" when required. The tenant was bound to remove at the termina-
tion of the lease, and during its currency he was subject to the landlord's baron court,
the bailie of which sometimes exercised the most unlimited jurisdiction — at one sitting
sentencing thieves to death, inflicting fines for killing game or cutting wood or turf,
giving judgments in suits for debt, issuing agricultural rules and regulations, and fixing
the prices to be charged by weavers and shoemakers. I have only time to give a few
examples of the doings of these courts. At various times between 1618 and 1642 the
bailie of Glenorchy enacted that a fine of j£2O Scots should be paid by every person
who would give meat, drink, or house-room to any man guilty of killing deer, roe,
black-cock, or black-fish without the laird's licence; that no person cast peats, except
with Lowland peat-spades, under the pain of £10 — (Laughter) — that no person have
swine, under the pain of confiscation thereof, and a fine of £10; that no broom be
cut without the laird's licence; that every tenant make four "croscattis of iron" an-
nually for slaying of the wolf, under the penalty of £$ ; that no tenant suffer rook,
hooded crow, or pyat to "big or clek" within their bounds, under the penalty of 405
-(Laughter and applause)— that every tenant who has any cottar on his land without
peats, and a kailyard, and some corn land, shall pay £$ of a fine to the laird; that
destroyers of wood shall be subject to a penalty of £20 for each offence, and that in-
formants of such offences shall be entitled to £10 of reward from the laird; that no
person labour or manure any kind of land within the space of sixteen feet of any river
such as the Orchy, Dochart, or Lochy, and of eight feet of any other great water less
THE INVERNESS GAELIC SOCIETY. 193
than the said rivers ; that for every cow found in the forest of Mamelorne a penalty of
405. shall be paid by the owner to* the laird, and a penalty of five merks for each horse
or mare found so trespassing ; that whoever has a scabbed horse and puts him out
unwatched, except on his own grass, it shall be lawful for any man that finds and
apprehends the said scabbed horse, to throw him over a craig and break his neck —
(Laughter) — that no wife drink in the alehouse except in the company of her husband,
and that all tenants pay their ale bills monthly ; that all querns be broken, and that all
tenants grind their corn at the mills, and pay the multure ; that no tenant sell any
barley, oats, pease, or meal until the rent be paid to the laird, under the penalty of
£10 and forfeiture of the thing so sold ; and that tenants at their removal be bound to
leave their houses in good order and repair. For breaches of the baron court regula-
tions fines were exacted all over the Highlands, and as they found their way to the
landlord's pocket, they must have been a source of considerable revenue to him. At
a court held by John Grant of Corriemony in 1691 seventy-eight tenants were found
guilty of various offences, such as the killing of deer, roe, blackcock, and muirfowl,
and the cutting of wood and green sward, and were fined in various sums amount-
ing in all to £885 Scots, or £73. 155. sterling. What that amount really repre-
sented in 1691 may be judged from the fact that a good cow then sold for £i
sterling, and a good horse for 305. sterling. The baron courts continued to exercise
full jurisdiction until the heritable jurisdiction were abolished after the '45 ; and
instead of the feudal system having been introduced into the Highlands after Cul-
loden, that battle was rather the first nail in the coffin of the system, which, as I have
said, flourished since the I3th century. In addition to the oppressive authority of the
baron bailies, and the harsh conditions on which the people held their lands, the
tenants of the past suffered from other evils unknown to their successors of the present
day. Wolves and foxes abounded, and on one farm in Breadalbane four mares, a year-
old horse, and a year-old quey were killed by wolves in 1594. Then, the still more
formidable cattle-lifters were a terrific scourge, and as an example of their deeds I may
mention that during a raid made by Badenoch men on Glen-Urquhart in 1663, they,
in the dead of night, carried away forty cattle, burnt down twenty-two houses and
barns, with their contents, and severely wounded the poor people who endeavoured to
protect their own.
Mr Barren, of the Inverness Courier, proposed Kindred Societies. The societies,
he remarked, that existed for the benefit of the people of the Scottish Highlands mostly
dated from a period twelve or fifteen years since ; and their establishment was due
to the feeling that the Highlanders required to unite and assert themselves in an age
of change and dissolution. This combination, and the energy which marked these
societies, had been productive of remarkable results. They had united scattered
forces, they had vindicated historical claims, they had stirred the enthusiasm of the
Celtic race, they had made the empire familiar with Highland sentiment, with High-
land chivalry, and also with Highland wrongs, with Highland sufferings, and with
Highland endurance. (Cheers.) Among their accomplishments, positive and sub-
stantial, was the Celtic Chair in the University of Edinburgh. (Cheers.) He trusted
that the endeavours of all these Highland Societies to accomplish their objects would
be characterised by firmness, sobriety, self-control, and practical wisdom. Let them
show that the taunts of the poet who spoke of
" The schoolboy heat,
The blind hysterics of the Celt"
i94 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
was not true as regards the Highland people, and that they were as well qualified as
any other people to carry on their work by patient methods— by a gradual process
which step by step improves the present, and yet respects the laws and the institutions
of the past. (Loud cheers. )
Mr fames Fraser, C.E., President of the Field Club, replied.
Highland Education was proposed by Dr F. M. Mackenzie, and responded to by
Mr Alexander Macbain, M.A., Rector of Raining School, Inverness, and by Mr A.
C. Mackenzie, Maryburgh.
Mr Alex. Macbain, M.A , in his reply, after a few preliminary remarks, insisted
upon the recognition by the Government of Gaelic as a special subject in the code—
(Applause) - a concession which must somehow or other be wrung from them. (Ap-
plause.) Small as the concession may appear to some, yet, closely considered, it is
one of vast importance in its results. And one of these results will be a reflex action
from the higher stages on the lower stages of school work, that is, on the lower
standards. If teachers are encouraged to teach Gaelic to the higher pupils, they will
also not neglect it at the lower stage of their educational course. It does look not a
little anomalous that children who do not know a word of English should yet be
taught that language without any use being made of their mother tongue. In theory
the thing is utterly absurd, and in practice it would be found equally so, were not the
Celts of the Highlands a race highly gifted and developed, heirs of ages of intellectual
activity and of race characteristics, which rise superior to any blundering and stupidity
on the part of their modern rulers. (Applause.) As a matter of fact, and a wonder-
ful thing it undoubtedly is, the Highland counties are, at the very least, up to the
average standard of passes of the rest of Scotland. (Applause. ) Still more wonderful
to say, the Island of Lews, the most intensely Gaelic of all, makes about the best
passes of any rural district in Scotland ; a fact which says a great deal for the other-
wise well proven cleverness of the Lews people. (Applause). We are tempted to ask
what Highland children would have done if they had the same advantages as the Eng-
lish, and not been hampered by bilingualism. But one or two concessions have
already been wrung from the Government in connection with Gaelic ; the examining of
children for intelligence in Gaelic, with the consequent appointment of Gaelic-speaking
inspectors, and also the power to teach Gaelic within Governmental school hours.
This last is an entirely illusory concession, unless the examination is made less strict
in the English subjects. Practically, only one concession has been gained, and the
next one to be forced from the Government is the placing of Gaelic among the specific
subjects. I cannot understand why we are so remiss in taking action in this matter.
It must surely be from the fact that some think the concession too insignificant to worry
about. But in reality it is a concession of great importance, as I have already said.
The adoption of Gaelic as a specific subject will react on the whole school curriculum,
and nearly effect all that the Society has ever been aiming at in the teaching of Gaelic
and English together. But in any case Gaelic as a specific subject will be of immense
benefit to the higher professional needs of the Highlands. (Applause). To take the
glaring instance of one profession -and that, too, perhaps the highest in the scale-
there is great difficulty in getting young men able to preach Gaelic, and this
arises from inattention to the language in school days. It has been plausibly
objected that, in spite of sentiment, teachers won't take advantage of Gaelic
being a specific subject. And, as a matter of fact, some of them are teaching
Gaelic under present circumstances to their higher pupils in order to meet the re-
quirements of the annual examinations held for bursaries offered by various benevolent
THE INVERNESS GAELIC SOCIETY. 195
societies, among which I am sorry to see our society not taking its place. Bursaries
for the Celtic Chair, as proposed by the Blackie testimonial, will prove an immense
stimulus to the study of the language. (Applause.) There can be little doubt that
grants from the Government and bursaries from the societies will bring Gaelic to be
the most popular of specific subjects both with teachers and pupils. The Government
won't move in the matter until we do two things. The first is to prove the urgent
need, not from a sentimental but a practical point of view, of our demands, and then
to put before them a draft scheme of the course of study required for Gaelic as a
specific subject, and guarantee suitable text-books. There are plenty here to-night
quite capable of taking those matters in hand, officials, too, of the Society. (Ap-
plause. )
Mr Mackenzie also replied.
Mr Colin Chisholm proposed the Provost, Magistrates, and Town Council of In-
verness, in the vernacular, in the following terms : — A Thighearna Ghearrloch a tha
mar bu dual, 's an Ard-chathair, fhir na bonn-chathrach agus a dhaoine uaisle gu leir
Chuir an Comunn so mar fhiachan ormsa deoch slainte luchd-riaghlaidh baile Inbhir-
nis a thogail; 's e sin ri radh — Ard-mhaor a bhaile so, gach frith -bhreitheamh's gach
comhairliche tha air an taghadh gu coir a sheasamh's gu ceartas a dheanamh eadar
duine 's duine air feadh baile Inbhirnis. A reir mo bharail fein tha iad comasach,
eolach, deonach, air gach atharrachadh a bhitheas gu feum a -Bhaile a dheanamh. Tha
Ian-choir aca air deadh-run gach aon tha chomhnaidh an taobh stigh do cheithir chear-
naibh a bhaile so. 'S math an aire tha Comh-chomhairle Inbhirnis a toirt air na tha
'n earbsa riu. Mo thruaighe* am fear a dh'fheuchas ri uiread aon oirleach do chladach
mara, do Ion mointich, no do thalamh air bith eile, fliuch no tioram,-a ghearradh bho
choir dhligheach Inbhirnis. Gheibh e mach air a chost nach cuir geilt, sochair, no
aineolas, amaladh air Comhairle Inbhirnis. Bhiodh e ro thoilichte learn moran de'n
gleusdachd 's de'n treuntas innse dhuibh. Tha cuid agaibh fein cho eolach air am
buadhan 'sa tha mise. Ach theagamh nach eil fios agaibh uile gu'm bheil iad a cuir
seachad roinn mhor d'en latha agus earrainn de'n oidhche a dian chuir air adhart
maith Inbhirnis. Tha iad fior-thoilltinnach air toil mhaith 's air deadh-run muinntir
a bhaile so. Lionaibh na glaineachean gu'm bar, 's traighibh iad gu'n grunnd air
deadh shlainte Riaghladairean Inbhirnis. (Loud cheers.)
Provost Fraser suitably replied, partly in Gaelic.
Mr Alex. Mackenzie, of the Celtic Magazine, proposed the Non-resident Mem-
bers. He expressed pleasure at hearing the Chairman, and his own immediate chief,
proposing the first toast on the list in Gaelic. Mr Mackenzie never heard him making
a set Gaelic speech before, but he knew long ago that Sir Kenneth could both speak
and read Gaelic fairly well. On his own property he always talked in Gaelic to
the hundreds of people on his property, grasping the poor old woman, the decrepit
old man, or the youth of those homes of toil cordially by the hand whenever he met
them, and expressing himself always in the Gaelic language, as was his wont, in terms
of kindness and sympathy that touched the warmest chords in their hearts. (Cheers.)
The result was that, in a pre-eminent degree, Sir Kenneth Mackenzie was beloved by
every person — from the school-boy to the oldest crofter — that lived on his estates.
(Renewed cheers.) The Chairman's exertions in the cause of education were un-
equalled by those of any other gentleman in the country. As a thinker on social and
political subjects he was unsurpassed; as a considerate landlord he had no equal; his
heart was full of the broadest and the most generous sympathies; and the result was
that not only did his schools produce, even before the days of School Boards, the best
i96 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
achievements among those of the crofter districts of the Highlands, but his crofts pro-
duced a class of people as fine in physique and in every other respect, as could be found
in the world. (Cheers.) In respect that Sir Kenneth lived in Ross-shire, he was a
non-resident member; and he was, therefore, entitled to speak of him in proposing the
toast: he was, however, always in the North among his people. The strictly non-
resident members were among the best friends of the Society, and in this respect Mr
Mackenzie mentioned pre-eminently, amid cheers, the name of Professor Blackie, who
was entitled to the warmest gratitude of all Highlanders in every quarter of the globe.
(Cheers.) Mr Mackenzie coupled the toast with the name of Mr John Macdonald,
banker, Buckie, to whose unobtrusive researches in Celtic topography especially he
paid a cordial tribute.
Mr Macdonald made a suitable reply.
Mr George J. Campbell, solicitor, proposed the Clergy, to which
The Rev. R. Morison, Kintail, replied. In the course of an excellent speech, he
regretted the absence of the local clergy from the dinner, and said — "It is somewhat sad
to contemplate that but for the accidental presence here of a solitary wanderer from the
West Coast, this toast must have passed unacknowledged." As to the reference made
to the clergy by the Secretary in his reply for Celtic Literature, Mr Morison said : —
" I truly believe that the great mass of the clergy of the Highlands sympathise
heartily with the objects of your Society, and that what appears to him to have been a
desire to extinguish the Gaelic in days gone bye was really a desire to benefit the
people by promoting the learning of English. They wanted Gaelic and English to go
on hand in hand, and side by side. The clergy saw that the clinging of the people to
Gaelic solely was an obstacle to their advancement. Therefore they desired them to
learn English also. In other words, the clergy did not want to discourage Gaelic ;
but to endeavour to get the people to learn English. If that were so, I can't see how
any person can fairly say that they were far wrong. As to those who denounced
Gaelic and the bagpipes, I do not stand here as an apologist. (Hear, hear.) I am
not one of those who would describe the national instrument as the devil's bellows.
On the contrary, I think it would be a very good thing if we cultivated a little -more
of the national music, our national melodies, amongst us." (Applause.) Mr Morison
then pointed out that the Highlands owed a very great deal to the clergy — particularly
the high education which was characteristic of Scotland ; and the voice of the country
in recent years, in elections to the Boards which now governed national education
furnished abundant testimony that the masses of the people of Scotland still desired
that a great part of our education should still remain in the hands of the clergy. The
clergy, he continued, have still some power, some influence for good. They will best
promote religion, and discharge their duty, by working in a spirit of peace and good-
will one towards another — one Church towards another — by fighting, not against each
other, but against the common foes of all religion and virtue.
The Press was proposed by Mr Whyte, librarian, and acknowledged by Mr Walter
Carruthers of the Inverness Courier. The health of the Chairman, given by Mr Wm.
Mackay, was pledged with Highland honours. The Croupiers were proposed by Mr
W. G. Stuart, who had himself added largely, by song and recitation, to the enjoy-
ment of those present, and whose health was specially pledged by the Chairman.
During the dinner, Pipe-Major Alexander Maclennan, the Society's piper, played ap-
propriate music as usual.
Great credit is due to the Secretary for the success of the meeting ; and Mr Cesari
served one of the best dinners ever laid before the Society.
The meeting did not seperate until twenty minutes past one o'clock on Wednesday
morning, bringing to a close one of the happiest meetings ever held under the auspices
of the Society.
THE HISTORY OF THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES, by the Editor,
will be ready in a few days. See advertisement.
A Supplement of four pages extra is given this month to admit of a full report of
the Gaelic Society Dinner, notwithstanding which " A Tour in Canada" and "The
Honours of Scotland" have been crowded out,
THE
CELTIC MAGAZINE.
CONDUCTED BY
ALEXANDER MACKENZIE, F.S.A., Scot.
No. LXXXIX. MARCH 1883. VOL. VIII.
THE HIGHLAND DRESS,
BY J. G. MACKAY. »
L— CLAN TARTANS.
Oh, first of garbs, garment of happy fate !
So long employed, of such an antique date ;
Look back some thousand years till records fail,
And lose themselves in some romantic tale ;
We'll find our god-like fathers nobly scorned
To be by any other dress adorned. — ALLAN RAMSAY.
THERE is nothing which so much distinguished the Highlanders
of Scotland as their very picturesque costume, which has been for
so many ages peculiar to themselves. That the Highland garb
is very ancient there cannot be the slightest doubt, though some
writers affect to believe that it is of modern invention.
We can gather sufficient from the works of ancient writers to
prove that tartans were worn in the Highlands at a very remote
period, but their knowledge of the language and customs of the
people was so very meagre that they could hardly be expected
to be very minute in their descriptions. The art of dyeing was
known among the Celts at a very early period. Diodorus Siculus,
who wrote A.D. 230, says that the Gauls "wore coats stained with
various colours." In our own country, in the Druidical times, the
Ard-righ had seven different colours in his dress, the Druidical
tunic had six, and that of the nobles or maormors had four.
O
I98 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
There cannot be any doubt but tartans originated from these
costumes, and came to be divided into distinctive patterns so
soon as the people began to be divided into clans. The tartans
themselves give the best possible proof of this, for by taking the
set of any sect or group of clans of the same stock, we find a very
great resemblance in the design. In almost every instance they
have all been formed from the pattern worn by the progenitor of
the sect. This is very noticeable in that of the descendants of
the Lord of the Isles, viz., Macdonalds, Macdougalls, Macalisters,
and Macintyres. The various branches of the Clann Chatain>
viz., Mackintoshes, Macphersons, Macbeans, Macgillivrays, Mac-
queens, etc., etc. The Siol Alpein, viz., Macgregors, Macquarries,
Grants, Macnabs, Mackinnons, and Macphees ; the descendants
of Connachar, viz., Mackays, Forbeses, and Urquharts ; the clan
Andrias, viz., Rosses, Macraes, Mathesons, and several others.
The fact of these clans having adopted patterns so very
much after the same design proves most conclusively that their
various tartans were invented at the time of the formation of the
clans. Many of them lived at a great distance, and had very
little communication with each other. Each branch of a clan, as
it asserted its own independence, added a few lines of other
colours to the tartan of the parent stock, to make a distinction
for itself, but kept enough of the original design to show the
relationship. This same system is seen very distinctly in the
armorial bearings ; while each clan has devices representing events
in its own history, the family relationship is shown by some em-
blems relating to their common ancestors : thus, the different
branches of the Clann Chatain have the cat, either as a crest or a
device, on their shield. The Macdonalds, Macdougalls, and
Macalisters have each the lamh-dhearg and the galley. The
Mackays, Urquharts, and Forbeses have three boars' heads
muzzled on their shield.
Besides this very strong circumstantial evidence, we have the
testimony of Martin* and several others to prove that tartans were
worn, as distinctive clan patterns, at a very remote period. Mar-
tin says : —
" The Plad, wore only by the Men, is made of fine Wool, the Thred as fine as
can be made of that kind; it consists of divers colours, and there is a great deal of
Ingenuity required in sorting the Colours, so as to be agreeable to the nicest fancy.
* Martin's tour to the Western Isles, 1692 ; pub. in London. 1702.
THE HIGHLAND DRESS. 199
" For this reason the Women are at great pains, first to give an exact Pattern to
the Plad upon a piece of Wood, having the number of every Thred of the stripe on it.
" Every Isle differs from each other in their fancy of making Plads, as to the
Stripes in Breadth and Colours. This Humour is as different thro' the main Land of
the Highlands, in so far that they who have seen those places, are able at the first
view of a Man's Plad to guess the Place of his Residence."
Beague, in his history of the Campaigns in Scotland in 1548-
1549, printed in Paris 1556, states "they (the Scotch army) were
followed by the Highlanders, and these last go almost naked,
they have painted waistcoats and a sort of woollen covering,
variously coloured"
As the Author wrote in French, it is not likely he understood
the terms tartan, plaid, or kilt, and to him the Highlanders would
have all the appearance of going almost naked, and the fancy
colouring of the tartan would look as if it were painted.
The author of " Certayne Matters Concerning Scotland,"
1597, says, "that the Highlanders delight much in marbled
clothes, specially that has long stripes of sundrie colours ; their
predecessors used short mantles of divers colours, sundrie ways
devided."
In the accounts of John, Bishop of Glasgow, treasurer to
King James III. 1471, the following items occur : —
Ane elne and ane halve of blue Tartane, to lyne his
gowne of cloth of gold ... ... ... . .. £i 10 o
Four elne and ane halve of Tartane for a sparwort
aboun his credill, price ane elne, IDS. ... ... 2 5 o
Halve ane elne of doble Tartane to lyne ridin collars to
her ladye the Quene, price ... ... ... o 8 o
Pinkerton, who viewed everything Celtic with a jaundiced
eye, considered the Highland dress " beggarly effeminate, grossly
indecent, and absurd, with the tasteless regularity and vulgar
glare of the tartans."
The colours of the tartan are not more red or glaring than
the Peer's robes, military uniforms, or the Royal livery, and yet,
these are not considered vulgar. One of the most distinguished
artists of his age, Mr West, President of the Royal Academy,
differs from this opinion. He has expressed " his surprise at the
blending and arranging of the colours, and considers that great
200 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
art— that is to say, much knowledge of the principles of colouring
with pleasing effect has been displayed in the composition of
several of the Clan tartans; regarding them in general, as speci-
mens of natural taste, something analogous to the affecting but
artless strains of the native music of Scotland."
In " Eustace's Classical Tour," in treating of the various
costumes of the European and Asiatic nations, he says regarding
the Highland dress — " In one corner of Great Britain a dress is
worn by which the two extremes are avoided. It has the easy
folds of a drapery, which takes away from it the constrained and
angular air of the ordinary habits, and is, at the same time
sufficiently light and succinct to answer all the purposes of
activity and ready motion."
Such, then, are the opinions of men who are much more
likely to be correct than spiteful writers like Pinkerton, and they
cannot be said to be prejudiced either one way or another.
Tartans were divided into three classes — Clan, Dress, and
Hunting. The dress was formed from the ground of the clan
pattern by making the larger checks white ; this was intended
for women's wear. The hunting was formed in the same manner,
by making the larger checks green, brown, or some other dark
colour, so as to make it serviceable for every-day wear, or, as its
name implies, for hunting. George Buchanan says (1612) — "For
the most part they are brown, near to the color of the hadder, to
the effect that when they lie down amongst the hadder, the bright
color of their plaids shall not bewray them."
The cloth worn by the women was finer and lighter in the
make; the checks were larger in the tartan; and the colours
made brighter and more showy. The women took a great pride
in the manufacture of their different fabrics, so that very great
perfection was attained both in weaving and dyeing. There are
examples to be seen at the present day of tartans woven more
than a hundred years ago; and when we consider the primitive
means that were at hand, it is very difficult for us to believe that
our ancestors were such barbarous savages as some would have
us to understand.
There was a great deal of taste displayed in getting up the
various colours, so as to blend properly with each other. On
account of the different arrangements of the various tartans, the
THE HIGHLAND DRESS. 201
shades of colour are changed in many of them, some having a
lighter blue, green, or red than others, and some a darker; while
others have a shade of green or blue peculiar to themselves, such
as the Mactavish, which has a remarkable green that we find in
no other. The Mackay has also a peculiar shade of green ; and
the Macnab has a particular red, something like what is now
called majenla.
The varying of the shades of colour depended upon the
other colours with which they had to blend. Thus a green had
to be brightened or deepened, according to the shade of blue,
yellow, or red to be used with it.
Martin thus describes the dress worn by the women : —
" The ancient Dress wore by the Women, called Arisaid, is a white Plad, having
a few small stripes of black, blue, and red ; it reached from the Neck to the Heels,
and was tied before on the Breast with a Buckle of Silver, or Brass, according to the
Quality of the Person.
" I have seen some of the former of an hundred Marks value ; it was broad as an
Ordinary Pewter Plate, the whole curiously engraven with various Animals, &c.
"There was a lesser Buckle, which was wore in the middle of the larger, and
above two Ounces weight ; it had in the Centre a large piece of Crystal, or some
finer Stone, and this was set all round with several finer Stones of a lesser size.
"The Plad, being pleated all round, was tied with a Belt below the Breast.
The Belt was of Leather, and several pieces of Silver intermixed with the Leather,
Like a Chain.
"The lower end of the Belt was a Piece of Plate about eight inches long, and
three in breath, curiously engraven, the end which was adorned with fine Stones, or
pieces of red Coral. "
"They wore Sleeves of Scarlet Cloth, clos'd at the end as Men's Vests, with
Gold Lace round'em, having Plate buttons, set with fine Stones.
"The Head-dress was a fine Kerchief of Linan strait about the Head, hanging
down the Back Taper-wise. A large lock of Hair hangs down their Checks above
their Breast, the lower end tied with a Knot of Ribbands."
It has been predicted "that the tasteless regularity and
vulgar glare of the tartan would for ever prevent its adoption by
genteel society." How different the change of opinion ! After
all the vituperations of jealous and abusive writers, tartan is now
recognised by the English themselves as the most graceful drapery
in Europe. It is worn by her Most Gracious Majesty the Queen,
who seems to take a special pride in it ; it adorns the ladies and
courtiers who surround the throne ; and not only does it appear .
to advantage at some of our most brilliant gatherings, but is
exceedingly popular throughout the civilised world.
(To be continued.)
202 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
THE HONOURS OF SCOTLAND.
BY M. A. ROSE.
II.
ALTHOUGH Captain Ogilvie found himself obliged to surrender
Dunnottar, he determined, if possible, to preserve the Honours
from falling into the hands of the English. But the difficulty
was, how to get them removed to a place of safety, when the
castle was so closely besieged, that scarcely a mouse could escape
without being seen ; and hiding them inside the castle would be
worse than useless, for they were almost sure to be found. Be-
sides, he had no security but that the castle might be burnt, when
his precious charge would be irretrievably lost. In this dilemma
he did what most wise men do. He consulted his wife to see if
her woman's wit could help him out of his difficulty. After some
consideration, Mrs Ogilvie fixed upon a plan. She would herself
arrange to get the Honours out of the castle and concealed in a
place unknown to her husband, so that he could, when questioned,
safely deny all knowledge of them. Ogilvie gladly agreed to this
proposal, and his wife proceeded to carry out her scheme. The
Rev. Mr Grainger, minister of Kinneff, and his wife, were intimate
personal friends of Mrs Ogilvie, and she determined to seek their
aid. Accordingly, she obtained permission from Colonel Thomas
Morgan, the officer in command of the besieging force, for her
friend, Mrs Grainger, to visit her for a few hours, and to take away
with her a quantity of flax which she wanted spun. The two
friends consulted together, and quickly arranged their plans,
which, considering the shortness of time at their disposal, and
the difficulties in their way, showed a good deal of ingenuity
and courage on the part of the two worthy ladies.
Dunnottar Castle being unapproachable on horseback, there
being a deep chasm between the castle gate and the mainland,
Mrs Grainger had to dismount and leave her horse in the English
camp. Colonel Morgan himself assisted her to alight, and gal-
lantly led her up to the castle gate. After a long and anxious
THE HONOURS OF SCOTLAND. 203
consultation, the ladies concealed the Crown about Mrs Grainger's
person, trusting that the long and full cloak she wore would effec-
tively hide it They then carefully packed the Sceptre and Sword
in a large bundle of flax, which was placed on the back of a stout
servant girl, who little dreamt of the importance or the value of
her load. The belt belonging to the Sword of State Mrs Ogilvie
kept, and carefully concealed it in the masonry of one of the walls
of the castle ; and when, long afterwards, it was taken from its
strange hiding place, it was found so securely packed that it was
none the worse.
It is very probable that Mrs Ogilvie kept the belt by her as
a future proof that the Honours had been in their possession, and
it is said that it is still preserved in the Ogilvie family.
When, her visit being ended, Mrs Grainger again made her
appearance in the English camp, Colonel Morgan assisted her to
her saddle, a courtesy the good lady would have gladly declined, if
she could ; for she trembled lest he should discover her momen-
tous secret. She, however, managed to retain her composure, and
thanking the Englishman for his attention, rode slowly away, fol-
lowed by the girl carrying the bundle of flax ; and in this very
undignified manner the Honours of Scotland made their exit from
the Castle of Dunnottar. On Mrs Grainger's arrival at home, her
husband took charge of the Honours, and having carefully packed
them up, he buried them inside his church.
Upon the English taking possession of Dunnottar, they de-
manded, according to the articles of agreement, that the Honours
of Scotland should either be delivered up, or a satisfactory ac-
count given of where they were. Captain Ogilvie at once pro-
tested that they were not in the castle, and stoutly denied all
knowledge of where they were concealed. Naturally enough this
improbable statement was not believed. He was seized, and con-
fined a close prisoner in the castle of which he had been so lately
the commander. His wife was also imprisoned, and closely ques-
tioned, and it is said even threatened with torture ; but she stood
firm, always giving the same answer, namely, that she had de-
delivered the Honours into the hands of the Earl Marshall, who
had carried them abroad to Charles II. This account, though
probable enough, did not satisfy the English officer, who detained
her a close prisoner, and sent a party of soldiers to Barras House
_>04 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
to apprehend Captain Ogilvie's only son, William, thinking that,
by punishing their son, they might prevail upon the parents to
divulge their secret Fortunately, however, the lad got timely
notice of his danger, and escaped to some friends in Angus,
where he remained for a long time concealed.
Captain Ogilvie and his wife were kept prisoners for a whole
year, and treated with great harshness, a sentinel being always
posted at the door of their apartment, and another in the room
with them, in order, if possible, to pick up any hints of the secret
from their conversation. The worthy couple, however, were not
to be caught napping, always adhering, without the slightest pre-
varication, to the same story, so that, at last, their version of the
affair was believed, and on the solicitations of numerous friends,
General Dean consented to set them at liberty, on condition that
they should not travel more than three miles from " their own
house of Barras," and that they should render themselves again
prisoners on demand, under a heavy bond, for which a friend,
George Graham of Morphie, became cautioner. That they were
kept under strict surveillance, is proved by the fact that some
time afterwards they had to find additional security for their
safety, in a new bond, dated rst February 1653.
Some time after Mrs Ogilvie died, faithfully keeping her
secret to the last, and Ogilvie himself lived under the same re-
straint until the Restoration ; but, in spite of the vigilance of his
enemies, he managed to keep up a regular correspondence with
the minister of Kinneff, and each month sent clean linen cloths
to Mr Grainger, with instructions to take the Honours up, and
wrap them anew in fresh cloths to prevent them getting tar-
nished by their long concealment; all which instructions the rev.
gentleman faithfully carried out.
At the Restoration, among the many claimants upon Royal
recognition and gratitude, the Dowager Lady Keith, mother of
the Earl Marshall, who was still abroad, presented a claim on
behalf of her son as being the preserver of the Honours, without
making any reference to the important share Captain Ogilvie
and his wife had taken in the matter. On her representation,
the King raised Sir John Keith to the peerage, with the title of
Earl of Kintore, and granted him a pension for life. In the
meantime Captain Ogilvie, finding himself likely to be over-
THE HONOURS OF SCOTLAND. 205
looked, and his services forgotten, sent his son William to Lon-
don to present a petition to the King on his behalf, setting forth
his version of the affair, and stating that he was the real pre-
server of the Honours. The King did not know how to decide
between the two claimants, and consulted the Earl of Lauder-
dale, who, with his usual acuteness, argued thus : if Sir John
Keith had preserved the Honours he would still have them in
his possession ; on the other hand, if Ogilvie's claim was just, he
would be able to produce the Regalia, which would at once decide
the matter. Accordingly Lauderdale sent the following letter to
William Ogilvie in answer to his petition : —
"WHITEHALL, 28th September 1660.
" His Majesty ordains the petitioner's father to deliver his
Crown, Sceptre, and Sword, to the Earl Marischal of Scotland, and
to get his receipt of them.
(Signed) " LAUDERDAILL."
On learning this, the Dowager Lady Keith endeavoured to per-
suade the Rev. Mr Grainger to deliver them up to her ; but the
minister stood firm to his trust, and would not give them up to
anyone but Captain Ogilvie, who, being informed of her lady-
ship's attempt to bribe Mr Grainger, immediately went to the
church, exhumed the Sceptre and carried it to his own house, at
the same time taking the following acknowledgement from the
faithful minister of Kinneff :—
" Whereas I have received a discharge from George Ogilvie
of Barras of the Honours of this kingdom, and he hath got no
more but the Sceptre: therefore I oblige myself, that the rest,
viz., the Crown and Sword, shall be forthcoming at demand, by
this my ticket Written and subscrived this day I received the
discharge, 28th September 1660.
(Signed) " M. J. GRAINGER."
A few days afterwards Captain Ogilvie received a command from
the King to deliver up the Honours to the Earl Marshall, which
order Ogilvie at once obeyed, and got the following receipt writ-
ten by the Earl Marshall's own hand : —
" At Dunottar, the 8th day of October 1660, I, William Earl
Marischal, grants me to have received from George Ogilvie of
Barras the Crown, Sword, and Sceptre, the ancient monuments of
206 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
this kingdom, entire and complete, in the same condition they
were entrusted by me to him, and discharge the foresaid George
Ogilvie of his receipt thereof, by this my subscription. Day and
place foresaid.
(Signed) " MARISCHAL."
On getting this proof in corroboration of his petition, Captain
Ogilvie journeyed to London and obtained an audience of the
King, who received him very graciously; and, being fully con-
vinced that he was indeed the real preserver of the Honours,
created him a baronet by patent, dated at Whitehall, 5th March
1 66 1, and granted him a new charter of the lands of Barras, in
which document the services of himself and wife are fully acknow-
ledged as the preservers of the Honours of Scotland.
After the death of Sir George Ogilvie, his son, Sir William,
being annoyed at the account of the matter as published in Nis-
bet's " Book of Heraldry " — in which all the honour was given to
the Earl of Kintore, while no notice was taken of Sir George
Ogilvie's services — he, with the assistance of his son David, pub-
lished a pamphlet in 1701, entitled "A True Account of the
Preservation of the Regalia of Scotland, viz., Crown, Sword, and
Sceptre, from falling into the hands of the English Usurpers.
Be Sir George Ogilvie of Barras, Kt. and Baronet, with the
Blazon of that Family."
The statements made in this pamphlet led, in 1702, to an
action of libel before the Privy Council of Scotland, at the in-
stance of John, Earl of Kintore, who contended that the late Sir
George Ogilvie was only the deputy of the Earl Marshall in the
matter; that it was the Dowager Lady Keith who had devised
the method of getting the Honours out of Dunnottar, and that it
was the stratagem of the Earl Marshall's writing home from Paris
that he had the Honours in his keeping that lulled the suspicions
of the English ; and, in support of this, the pursuer produced,
among several other documents, " ane recept granted by Mr
James Grainger, minister att KinnefT, to the Countess Marishall,
beareing him to have in his custody the Honours of the King-
dom, viz., the Crown, Sceptre, and Sword, and where the samen
were absconded that the said Countess might have access thereto,
dated the thirty-first day of March 1652," which is as follows :—
" I, Mr James Grainger, minister at Kinneff, grant me to
THE HONOURS OF SCOTLAND. 207
have in my custody the Honours of the Kingdom, viz., Crown,
Sceptre, and Sword. For the Crown and Sceptre I raised the
pavement-stone just before the pulpit, in the night tyme, and
digged under it ane hole, and put them in there, and rilled up
the hole, and layed down the stone just as it was before, and
removed the mould that remained, that none would have dis-
cerned the stone to have been raised at all. The Sword again,
at the west end of the church, amongst some common saits that
stand there, I digged down in the ground betwixt the twa fore-
most of these saits, and laid it down within the case of it, and
covered it up, as that removing the superfluous mould it could
not be discerned by any body ; and if it shall please God to call
me by death before they be called for, your ladyship will find
them in that place."
The Privy Council decided in the Earl's favour, and ordered
the pamphlet to be burnt at the Cross by the hands of the com-
mon hangman, and sentenced David Ogilvie, as one of the de-
fendants, to pay a fine of twelve hundred pounds Scots.
This sentence seems certainly to have been far too severe on
the Ogilvies, for although it may have been quite true that the
Earl Marshall and his mother were cognisant of the scheme, or
even may have devised it, yet it is perfectly certain that Sir
George and his wife were the chief actors, as well as the greatest
sufferers, and, consequently, were entitled to the chief reward.
As for the worthy minister of Kinneff, after the Restoration the
thanks of the Committee of Estates were formally tendered to
him, and a sum of two thousand merks presented to his wife,
Christian Fletcher, " as a reward of her courageous loyalty."
At the time of the Union between England and Scotland,
when the minds of the great mass of the people were agitated
and indignant at what they considered a surrender of their na-
tional independence, the opposers of the Union, taking advantage
of the popular feeling, circulated a report that the Honours were
to be sent away to England, as a token of the complete subjection
of Scotland as a nation, This statement, absurd and unfounded
as it was, yet gained credence among the people, who gave utter-
ance to their sentiments so plainly, that to allay their suspicions
it was found necessary to insert a special clause in the Treaty of
Union, to this effect, " That the Crown, Sceptre, and Sword of
208 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
State, Records of Parliament, &c., continue to be kept as they
are, within that part of the United Kingdom called Scotland ;
and that they shall so remain in all times coming, notwithstand-
ing the Union."
On the 1 6th of January 1707, the Regalia made their last
official appearance, the Sceptre being used to ratify the Treaty
of Union, when the Chancellor, the Earl of Seafield, is reported
to have said, as he handed it back to the clerk, with a scornful
air, " There is an end of an auld sang."
After this, there being no Scottish Parliament, the duty
of taking charge of the Honours devolved altogether on the
Treasurer. The Earl Marshall in delivering them up for the
last time, showed a very different feeling to the Earl of Seafield,
and handed in a long protest that they should not be removed
from the Castle of Edinburgh, without notice being given to him,
or to his successor in title and office.
The now useless Honours were packed away in a large oak
chest, fastened with three keys, and deposited in the Crown
Room of Edinburgh Castle, a strong vaulted room, which was
immediately securely locked and barred.
For a long time rumours were rife among the populace that
the Regalia were either destroyed or conveyed into England,
which impression was strengthened by their being no longer
visible ; but as time passed, and people began to discover the
benefits of the Union, the feeling of irritation which at first
existed gradually died out, and with it, the anxiety about the
Honours. Thus, the venerable relics remained undisturbed,
neglected, and forgotten, for the long period of a hundred and
ten years, until people began to doubt of their existence. Only
once, during that time, was the Crown Room entered ; and that
was in 1794, when, by special warrant under the Royal sign-
manual, some Commissioners went in search of certain records
which were supposed to be there. There was, however, nothing in
the room except the strong oak chest, which the Commissioners
had no authority to open. The apartment was again secured
with additional fastenings, and the fate of the Honours remained
as uncertain as ever. In 1817 George IV., then Prince Regent,
ordered the room to be opened, and the chest examined, to see
if the Regalia were really there. Among the officials entrusted
THE HONOURS OF SCOTLAND. 209
with this duty was Sir Walter Scott, then one of the Principal
Clerks of Session, whose graphic description of the scene — of the
emotion with which these long-lost-sight-of relics were regarded
as they passed from hand to hand, and of the enthusiasm with
which the news of their safety was received by the people
of Edinburgh — is doubtless well known to the reader. See-
ing the interest exhibited by all classes in their ancient
National Regalia, the Prince Regent ordered that they should
in future be placed in a position in which the public might have
an opportunity of seeing them. They were accordingly given
in charge of some of the Officers of State, and deposited for
exhibition, duly protected from injury, and carefully guarded, in
the Castle of Edinburgh, where they are now to be seen.
M. A. ROSE.
THE CROFTERS.— At a meeting of about 2500 people, held in Edinburgh, on
the 7th of February, Mr Duncan Maclaren, ex-M.P., in the chair, the following
resolutions were carried unanimously : —
Moved by the Rev. Dr BEGG, seconded by Mr D. H. MACFARLANE, M.P., and
supported by Mr MILLAR of Scrabster—
I. That this meeting views with alarm the present condition of the Highlands of
Scotland, and calls upon Government to appoint a Royal Commission to inquire into
the alleged grievances of the peasantry, and the extensive depopulation of fertile dis-
tricts for purposes of sport.
Moved by Principal RAINY, seconded by Dr GARMENT, and supported by Dean
of Guild MACKENZIE, Inverness —
II. That this meeting desires to impress on Government the urgent need existing
for such reforms as the following, viz. -.—Security to the crofters against capricious
eviction and rack-renting ; compensation for all value their industry may add to the
soil, and inducement to extend their holdings by the reclamation of waste lands ; as
also the utilisation for productive purposes of the vast tracts of country at present
under deer.
Moved by Professor BLACKIE —
III. That this Meeting, recognising the necessity at this juncture for united
action on the part of all friends of the Highlands, heartily endorses the objects
of the Edinburgh Highland Land Law Reform Association as follows, viz: — (i.)
To obtain for the Highland peasantry legislative security against capricious
eviction and rack-renting, and to promote the amelioration of their condition
generally. (2.) To collect information regarding the present extensive occupation
of the Highlands by Deer Forests, and to agitate for a mitigation of this evil, and
against further depopulation of productive districts for such purposes. (3. ) To pro-
vide a basis for combined action in favour of such changes in the land laws as may be
necessary to secure the foregoing objects — and recommends the formation of similar
Associations throughout the country,
210 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
A SPRAY OF WHITE HEATHER.*
I lovingly greet thee, sweet spray of white heather !
With a heartfelt emotion I would not conceal,
Thou com'st from a friend true in shade and bright weather,
Who in kindness is warm as in friendship she's leal.
Good fortune and luck aye attend me together,
Is the wish you convey from the donor to me,
Charmed emblem of both! bonnie spray of white heather,
From the land of my fathers far over the sea.
Fair token, thou'rt chaste as the heart of the sender,
Bringing fond recollections of life's early day,
Of kin, friends, and country, and ties the most tender,
Ere from kin, friends, and country I wandered away.
Good fortune and luck aye attend me together,
Is the wish you convey from the donor to me,
Charmed emblem of both! bonnie spray of white heather,
From the land of my fathers far over the sea.
I never may see, pretty spray of white heather,
Caledonia's loved glens and her mountains so grand ;
I may ne'er again with the dear ones foregather,
But my blessings on them and my dear native land !
Good fortune and luck aye attend me together,
Is the wish you convey from the donor to me,
Charmed emblem of both ! bonnie spray of white heather,
From the land of my fathers far over the sea.
Thou gift of a friend ! I will treasure thee dearly
Till my journey shall end in that long peaceful rest ;
When some loving hand mine had oft pressed sincerely
May "with tenderness place thee, sweet spray, on my breast !
Good fortune and luck aye attend me together,
Is the wish you convey from the donor to me,
Charmed emblem of both ! bonnie spray of white heather,
From the land of my fathers far over the sen.
New York, September 1882. DUNCAN MACGREGOR CRERAR.
* Written on receiving a beautiful spray of heather from Mrs William Black, wife
of the eminent novelist, and to whom the verses are inscribed with the esteem and
gratitude of the author.
211
CELTIC DYES
To give an account of the various ways in which the ancient
Celts procured the dyes for their cloths and tartans, is necessarily,
owing to the very scanty knowledge we have, a matter of extreme
difficulty, but the following notes may prove interesting to the
reader : —
YELLOW. — The bark of the crab-apple, and the leaves of the
common birch-tree, both yielded a yellow dye, but the quality of
that extracted from the latter tree was far surpassed by that of
the dwarf birch. A decoction of the spotted arssmart with alum,
or fir-club moss, which was the substitute for alum, the plant
called bird's-foot trefoil, the green tops and flowers of heather,
and the meadow saffron, were all used to dye different shades of
yellow. St John's wort and alum, or club-moss, also produced
a fine yellow, which was much used.
PURPLE. — This colour was obtained from the bilberry or
blaeberry, and also from the crowberry boiled with alum or
club-moss. The lichen called cudbear, or crotal geal, was exten-
sively used for dying purple. The process of extracting the dye
is thus described by Mr Cameron in his valuable work on The
Gaelic Names of Plants: — "It (the lichen) is first dried in the
sun, then pulverised and steeped, commonly in urine, and the
vessel made air-tight. In this state it is suffered to remain for
three weeks, when it is fit to be boiled in the yarn which it is to
colour." The writer then proceeds — " In many Highland dis-
tricts many of the peasants get their living by scraping off this
lichen with an iron hoop, and sending it to the Glasgow market."
In reviewing the above work, the Northern Chronicle says: —
" Mr Cameron is mistaken in supposing that Highland peasants
yet get their living by gathering the ' crotal corcur,' and sending
it to the Glasgow market. The peace of 1815 put an end to that
industry. The * crotal ' grows undisturbed on mountain stones,
and the very scrapers, which were a generation ago to be found
in most houses in the Highlands, have to some become puzzling
curiosities." This crotal geal or corcur is, however, gathered and
212 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
extensively used to this day for dying the far-famed Gairloch
hose, and any old Highland woman will tell you that the wearers
of hose dyed with a decoction of this lichen are singularly ex-
empted from having their feet inflamed or blistered with walking
long distances.
RED OR SCARLET. — According to Logan, scarlet was ex-
tracted from the grain of a kind of bramble, called by the Celts,
us ; also from the hyacinth and the rue. The root of a plant,
called the yellow bedstraw, also furnished a red dye. Lightfoot
says : — « The Highlanders use the roots to dye red colour. Their
manner of doing so is this : — The bark is stripped of the roots,
in which bark the virtue principally lies. They then boil the
roots thus stripped in water, to extract what little virtue remains
in them, and after taking them out, they last of all put the bark
into the liquor, and boil that and the yarn they intend to dye
together, adding alum to fix the colour." A red colour was also
obtained from the bark of the black thorn.
BLACK. — In almost all the black dyes, copperas was an essen-
tial constituent ; thus, by boiling the bark of the alder with cop-
peras, a magnificent black dye was the result ; and by boiling the
bark of the briar, and also that of the oak, with the same sub-
stance, black was produced. A deep black was extracted from
the bark of the common willow.
BLUE. — This colour was generally obtained from woad. In
reference to this plant, Mr Cameron writes as follows : — " The
ancient Celts used to stain their bodies with a preparation from
this plant. Its pale-blue hue was supposed to enhance their
beauty, according to the fashion of the time." When woad was
not obtainable, elecampane boiled with whortle-berries served
the same purpose, and produced a bright blue colour.
CRIMSON was obtained from the hyacinth, the whortle-berry,
and the corcur, or crotil geal (Logan).
BROWN was extracted from elder-berries, oak, white willow,
and the crotal, a sort of lichen. H.
A number of the Glasgow business friends of Thomas Mackenzie, Esq., J.P. and
merchant, Lochinver, presented him, on the occasion of his recent marriage, with a
token of their high esteem and respect for him in the shape of silver plate.— Daily
Mail,Jany. 22, /SSj.
213
THE ETHICS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY.
II
WHAT is LAND?
IN every scientific inquiry the first prerequisite is to give a correct
definition of the thing treated of, or, in other words, to predicate
some attribute or quality which it implies. In this way land is
defined by some political economists as a " natural monopoly,"
and now popularly spoken of as a monopoly. Those who are
opposed to private property in land think it, no doubt, a good
thing to have laid hold upon a bad name so as to stigmatise
that of which they disapprove. This is a trick which is neither
new nor far-sighted ; for assuredly, sooner or later, Truth, although
obscured and retarded, will in the end assert her claim to recog-
nition and consent.
Let us not be carried away by the mere sound of words, but
carefully consider and realise what the words mean. A monopoly
is the exclusion of competition. It has reference to some article
of commerce, or to some trade, such, for instance, as the trade of
the East Indies under the old East India Company. It must be
subject to one will, or to the mutual consent, or common con-
currence, of a body of individuals, and cannot be maintained in
trade unless protected and enforced by the exercise of sovereign
authority. The trade of India was started by two companies —
the Scotch and English — each holding a royal charter of mono-
poly ; but, as is well, known, competitions arose between them,
and they found it necessary to amalgamate in order to establish
a close monopoly. A monopoly cannot be maintained except
by the power of some supreme authority. It is therefore a
matter of human invention and political action. But land, or
the rude materials of the earth, is not the produce of labour. To
say that land is a natural monopoly is a contradiction in terms,
and, therefore, an absurdity. Who is the monopoliser? It
would be quite improper to say that the Author of nature is ; for
the object of monopoly is profit, and all His gifts are gratuitous.
P
2I4 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
In actual fact we find that competition does exist in land,
whether held in freehold or leased out on hire, and those who
decry private property in land give a decided advantage to their
opponents in argument by maintaining a definition which is false
and absurd. Indeed, so inconsistent are they that, in advocating
a transfer of the land of the country to Government, they in fact
advocate a Government monopoly, which is, however, a very
intelligible and possibly beneficial monopoly.
It was Ricardo, the author of so much confusion in political
economy, who introduced the term ; and Stuart Mill, the god of
the Socialists, by way of improving upon the false definition,
qualified it by predicating of it that it was a " natural monopoly,"
and thereby made confusion worse confounded.
Mr Isaac L. Rice, in the North American Review for June
last, writes as follows on this point : —
Ricardo, conscious of the error of designating landed property as a monopoly,
terms this property a partial monopoly. But the phrase partial monopoly is a con-
tradiction in terms. The word monopoly carries within itself the meaning that the
entire species of property to which it is applied is controlled by a single will. The
moment that one has only a partial control of a certain kind of property, there is no
longer a monopoly. To say that a man who owns an acre of ground has a partial
monopoly of all the evil of the country, is as barren of meaning as it is to say that a
man who owns a coat has a partial monopoly of all the coats.
I am disposed to think that shallow theorists may have been
led astray by an expression made use of by Adam Smith, who,
in writing of the rent of land, said : — "The rent of land, therefore,
considered as the price paid for the use of land, is natitrally a
monopoly price." But the reader will at once perceive that say-
ing the rent of land is in the nature of a monopoly price is very
different to saying that land itself is a natural monopoly. The
philosophic mind of Adam Smith could not conceive such an
absurdity.
After exposing this definition to the ridicule I have quoted,
Mr Rice proceeds to define land as property. Does this remove
our difficulty? By no means, for the question arises, What is
property? I may further direct the mind of the reader to the
expression which is so often misapplied, viz.: — "The sacred rights
of property." As a matter of convenience, lawyers divide pro-
perty into two classes — real and personal ; but this is not a
scientific definition. Property is a belonging, and by natural
ETHICS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. 215
instinct man in his rude state does not recognise any property as
sacred except what has been appropriated by labour. The Eng-
lish language makes this broad distinction, for all unenclosed
land is termed " common," as opposed to " sacred." Until lately
hares and rabbits were "sacred" to landlords, but by natural
instinct the casual killing of them with a stick or a stone was not
regarded as a crime. Then, whatever is the produce of labour is
a belonging, and whether in land or in moveable property is re-
garded as sacred to him who bestowed the labour, or paid the
wages of labour to the labourer. Hence, it should follow, that
property in land upon which no labour has been bestowed, is, by
natural instinct, and by the English language, common property.
As to legal phraseology, is my ship not as much a property
as my land and houses? Does the term property, or real pro-
perty, predicate an attribute of land which is distinctive and
descriptive of it, apart from other property? If not, we cannot
accept it as a correct definition.
It will be admitted by everyone that the produce of labour
is property. But land is not the produce of labour, but the gra-
tuitous gift of God. Therefore, it is not property in the sense of
the word which renders property sacred.
Then the question remains, What can we predicate as an
attribute of land which may be accepted by all the world as a
correct definition? That land is a natural agent no one can deny,
and all natural agents have one attribute in common— that of
possessing power. All natural agents are powers. Land is a
natural agent. Therefore, land is power. To put the syllogism
in a negative form: all natural agents are not monopolies, nor
property. Land is a natural agent ; therefore land is neither
monopoly nor property. The reader will probably say, "You
prove too much." No, indeed, I do not. I am perfectly con-
sistent with my belief and principles. Labour is the only thing
which has exchange value. The labour which has been incor-
porated with the soil is the only property which is sacred. The
attributes of land, as power, are as gratuitous as the water that
turns the mill-wheel, and the wind that fills the sail.
Seeing that I have exposed, as I hope with some degree of
success, the fallacy and danger to truth of applying commercial
terms as descriptive of land, our difficulty lies with the limited
216 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
range of our ideas and narrow capability of language to find one
descriptive term for that which has no analogy within the cog-
nisance of our conception. I think, however, that it is sufficient
for all practical discourse to define land as the originating and
sustaining Power of Life. Land is, therefore, not natural mono-
poly, but natural power.
No doubt the term power is one which covers a wide field,
and is often loosely used and misapplied. Without entering into
the metaphysical subject of discussing it, and as to how we form
our idea regarding it, it is sufficient to define it both in its moral
and physical sense as that which sets in motion. To say, then,
that land is power is what no one can controvert, because (i) it
sets life in motion and sustains it ; (2) it is dominion, which con-
veys the notion of and implies power ; and (3) its products set
commerce in motion, which is the subject of economics. Further,
monopoly, as we have seen, is indivisible, whilst power has the
attribute of divisibility ; and when I come to treat of Law I shall
have occasion to refer to the piecemeal alienation and piecemeal
aggregation law of Prussia, which, in its conception and applica-
tion by the great Stein, was founded on the fundamental prin-
ciples of Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations, and on the ethics of
Emmanuel Kant, whose leading idea of an ethic law was its
universality — " Let your law be so founded in principles of justice
as to be capable of universal application."
Land, as a natural agent, is not only immediate power, as, if
I may so speak, the matrix upon which the other natural agents
act, but is the expression of the will of a higher power (who set
the worlds in motion) towards man, His rational creature, and
greatest work of His hand. This is recognised by all the
churches in observing a Thanksgiving-day for the harvest. How
could the churches offer prayers and thanksgiving for the success
of a monopoly ! What is nature ? What is man ? What is
God ? These are questions which carry us to the Inner Temple
of the soul, the consideration of which transcend, but ought to
govern, ethics and economics alike.—
The earth belongs unto the Lord,
And all that it contains,
The world that is inhabited,
And all that there remains.
ETHICS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. 217
I am no Socialist in any bad sense of the term, but a British
Constitutionalist. The land of every country belongs to the
people of that country as a whole. The Crown is lord para-
mount of the soil, and, as such, the vicegerent of God the owner.
Individual owners are mere occupiers. The position of British
landlords is one of usurpation and appropriation of what does
not belong to them, by exercising a taxing power, in their own
right, which ought to appertain to the State alone.
The consideration of this subject naturally falls under the
question —
WHAT is VALUE ?
No clear understanding can be obtained with regard to the
nature and equities of rent without first guarding the reader
against a misuse of the word value. Incalculable mischief arises
from the misuse and misapplication of words, especially when the
subject treated of partakes of the nature of abstract ideas in the
province of science and philosophy. In connection with the
study of the business of life no word has been more discussed
and tortured. In its general meaning, and when loosely used, no
great harm can arise, but its double meaning in political economy
produces an illusion, and marks, as it were, a fugitive idea or
notion which plays tricks with the imagination, and, like a
phantom, eludes the grasp of the wondering enquirer.
On the very threshold of his enquiry Adam Smith cautioned
the reader against this illusion, and as to the use of words gener-
ally he speaks as follows in one of his philosophical essays : —
A notion, as long as it is expressed in very general language, as long as it is
not much rested upon, nor attempted to be very particularly and distinctly explained,
passes easily enough through the indolent imagination accustomed to substitute words
in the room of ideas.
Being aware of this, he cautioned the reader — and it was all the
more necessary for him to do so, seeing that the groundwork of
his system was to place value in human labour — as against the
French economist, Quesnay, whose theory was then in vogue, and
which proceeded on the idea that land was the source of wealth.
Of course land is the source of life and of all things. Land and
labour are the two necessities — the one gratuitous, the other
onerous.
But as to the word value : J. R. Macculloch very well ex-
218 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
presses the difference between the two notions which are con-
veyed by it when applied to material objects :—
The word value has been very frequently employed to express, not only the
exchangeable worth of a commodity, or its capacity of exchanging for other commodi-
ties, but also its utility or capacity of satisfying our wants, and of contributing to our
comforts and enjoyments. But it is obvious that the utility of commodities — that the
capacity of bread, for instance, to appease hunger, or of water to quench thirst — is a
totally different and distinct quality from their capacity of exchanging for other com-
modities. Dr Smith perceived this difference, and showed the importance of carefully
distinguishing between the utility, or, as he expressed it, the '•'value in use" of com-
modities and their value in exchange. But he did not always keep this distinction in
view, and it has very often been lost sight of by subsequent writers. There can be no
doubt, indeed, that the confounding together of these opposite qualities has been one
of the principal causes of confusion and obscurity in which many branches of the
science, not in themselves difficult, are still involved. When, for instance, we say
that water is highly valuable, we unquestionably attach a very different meaning to the
phrase from what we attach to it when we say that gold is valuable.
Here, the uninitiated reader will naturally ask — " But why is
there so much importance attached to this distinction?" The
logic of justice is a terrible weapon to evil-doers when carried to
its ultimate conclusion. The injustice may be felt, but a flaw in
the logic may, and very often does, amount to the escape of the
culprit. If labour is the foundation and measure of all real ex-
change value, hence it should follow that all natural agents and
products have no value in exchange, except what is imparted to
them, or incorporated with them in human labour. But without
giving any labour or service of his own, the landlord makes a
charge in rent for that which has no value. He clearly gets
something for nothing. Then the landlord, as such, must be a
very uneconomic factor in the composition of values.
Although it is in connection with rent that the fundamental
theory or law of value possesses its greatest, if not, indeed, all its
practical importance, there are other phases of the discussion
which seem to have landed the utilitarians, or those who place
value in materiality, in a fog. For instance, Stuart Mill is of this
number. Strangely enough, he postpones the discussion of the
subject until he comes to consider of exchanges, after first treat-
ing of landed property and rent, as if the fundamental law of
value were of secondary consideration, instead of being the very
essence of the question ; and Mr Fawcet, in his very excellent
"Manual of Political Economy," follows the same arrangement
ETHICS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. 219
of his subject. These writers explain the phenomena of value,
and call them laws of value, as, for instance, placing value in de-
mand and supply. This is the same as if we were to say that
the law of gravitation consisted in the perturbations in the orbits
of the planets instead of illustrating and proving the law of
gravitation by the phenomena of perturbations.
Another phase of the question is the contemplation of a
general rise or fall in values. The suggestion of such a question
indicates, as Adam Smith says, " an indolent imagination," for it
is in the remuneration of labour that a change must take place
before any change can take place in value. It is in the abund-
ance or scarcity of nature that the rewards of labour consist ;
and money, the adopted standard, being a product of nature, its
value consists, like every other value in exchange, not in any
virtue inherent in it, but in the labour of the digger. Stuart
Mill speaks of price as not being the same as value, but he uses
the word value where he should use the word price, a mistake
which Adam Smith never makes. Price is merely numbers
expressing the equivalent demanded for the commodity, in what-
ever denomination it may happen to consist. In comparing
values, it is money that has to be considered as a medium of
. exchange, standard, and equivalent. The abundance or scarcity
in rewarding the common labourer regulates the amount of labour
bestowed upon that industry, so that it finally resolves itself into
v labour for labour, at the average rewards of labour of ordinary
workmen, just the same as one man may exchange a boll of meal
with another man for a cran of herrings — the labour of the peasant
for the labour of the fisherman. So the labour of the digger, with
all other labours. Everything is measured by the labour of the
common man. It will be a very interesting question for us to
consider, later, how the products of nature are placed there, in
proportion to the wants and necessities of men. It is sufficient
to remark here that this is a line of thought which the school of
" indolent imagination " was not in the habit of pursuing.
The school represented by Malthus, Ricardo, and the Mills,
has dominated political economy, and practically superseded
and perverted Adam Smith's great work by placing value in
utility, and thereby rendered the science unintelligible, because
illogical Stuart Mill, who is now regarded as the greatest
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authority on the subject, consistently enough with his utility
theory, always speaks of value as relative.
Now, in practical experience, we know that the value of
labour is brought to a standard, and is therefore comparative. It
is the "use" of things which is relative to our wants and desires,
and relative to one another in regard to the degree in which they
satisfy these. But, to show that Stuart Mill was landed in a fog,
it is only necessary to compare his confidence with his own
. admitted failure, and then the reader may estimate the relative
values of the "Wealth of Nations," and John Stuart Mill's
" Principles of Political Economy ". —
" Happily," says he, "there is nothing in the laws of value which remains for the
present or any future writer to clear up ; the theory of the subject is complete ; the
only difficulty to be overcome is that of so stating it as to solve by anticipation the
chief perplexities which occur in applying it : and to do this, some minuteness of
exposition, and considerable demands on the patience of the reader, are unavoidable.
He will be amply repaid, however (if a stranger to these inquiries), by the ease and
rapidity with which a thorough understanding of this subject will enable him to
fathom most of the remaining questions of political economy."
To any one who has read the " Wealth of Nations," or even
left the precincts of the nursery, this must seem more like the
speech of a showman or a clairvoyant than an appropriate intro-
duction to a practical subject I do not wish to tax the patience of
the reader by making him wade through the deeps and shallows of
sophistries and " perplexities," but simply invite him to compare
this confident tone with the result. In a summary of these
expositions the following wonderful admissions of failure are
made : —
We have now attained a favourable point for looking back, and taking a simul-
taneous view of the space which we have traversed since the commencement of this
book. The following are the principles of the theory of value, so far as we have yet
ascertained them.
The closing sentence to this summary is to the same effect —
The further adaptation of the theory of value to the varieties of existing or
possible industrial systems may be left with great advantage to the intelligent reader.
It is well said by Montesquieu, " It is not always advisable so completely to exhaust
a subject, as to leave nothing to be done by the reader. The important thing is not
to be read, but to excite the reader to thought."
Strange performance for an unread book !
In case it may be thought that these criticisms proceed from
some acerbity of disposition, or from some vain passion for dis-
ETHICS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. 221
play, instead of from an honest desire to arrive at a correct
conception of truth, I must delay the reader for a little longer in
order to point out how a wordy dialectician got entangled in the
meshes of a network of false theories and inappropriate terms.
Of this I am certain, that there is a law of value, as certain
as the law of gravitation, by which to demonstrate all the pheno-
mena of economic life.
The word value is the key-note of political economy, from
•which to produce the full diapason of sweet sounds, but Stuart
Mill has been playing dissonance, inasmuch as he tried to discourse
sweet music by simultaneously thrumming on different scales.
Let the reader reflect on the absurdity of supposing different
laws of gravitation in one system, and then he will be able to
realise the ignorance and confusion displayed in contemplating
different laws of value. Like the attempt of the ancients to
understand astronomy on the theory of cycles and epicycles, it is
so with intelligent readers to understand the political economy of
the school of indolent imagination, as demonstrated by Stuart
Mill. To illustrate this idea further, let us suppose labour, in a
state of freedom and liberty, to be embodied, and moving in its
orbit like, say, Jupiter. Demand and supply acts upon it, as does
the attraction of interior and exterior planets upon Jupiter, which
accounts for the phenomena of perturbations, as demand and sup-
ply do for the rise and fall of prices.
But the generic idea of value appertains to a mental percep-
tion or law of human thought as to justice and fair dealing, which
is primary and fundamental, and thereby giving it the unity and
character of law.
Now, every one must know that it is abundance or scarcity
that regulates the price of commodities. It is nature that re-
wards, and the fruits of earth and sea are her gratuitous gifts.
The extent to which she responds to human labour regulates the
rewards of primary labour, which sets all labour in motion.
Hence, it should follow that the greater the abundance wrested
from nature, the greater will be the wealth and comfort of all.
For instance, the price of corn depends upon the abundance or
scarcity of the harvest. It is so also with regard to the herring
fishing, the cotton crop, the supply of wool and hides, fruit and
hops, iron ore and coal, gold and silver, diamonds and rubies,
222 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
and so on. The prosecution of these industries, and of all other
industries, depends upon finding an outlet, and thus we find the
eagerness with which producers search for new markets for their
commodities. But, by an inversion, Stuart Mill says that de-
mand precedes and creates supply. This gives a poor account of
the enterprise of the British merchant. He also confounds the
action of demand and supply with that of abundance and scarcity.
Not to burden the sequence of my argument, I shall give only
one example. —
"The supply of a commodity," he says, "is an intelligible expression: it means
the quantity offered for sale ; the quantity that is to be had at a given time and place
by those who wish to purchase it. But what is meant by the demand? Not the mere
desire for a commodity. A beggar may desire a diamond ; but this desire, however
great, will have no influence on the price. Writers have therefore given a more
limited sense to demand ; and have defined it, the wish to possess, combined with the
power of purchasing. To distinguish demand in this technical sense from the de-
mand which is synonymous with desire, they call the former effectual demand.
[Readers who have read Pascal's Provincial Letters will be reminded by this of the
casuistry as to effectual and proximate grace.] After this explanation, it is usually
supposed that there remains no further dimculty, and that the value [price] depends
upon the rates between the effectual demand, as thus defined, and the supply.
"These phrases, however, fail to satisfy anyone who requires clear ideas and a
perfectly precise impression of them. Some confusion must always attach to a phrase
so inappropriate as that of a ratio between two things not of the same denomination.
What ratio can there be between a quantity and a desire, or even a desire combined with
power ? A ratio between demand and supply is only intelligible if by demand we
mean the quantity demanded, and if the ratio intended is that between the quantity
demanded and the quantity supplied. But again, the quantity demanded is not a
fixed quantity, even at the same time and place ; it varies according to the value
[price] ; if the thing is cheap, there is usually a demand for more of it than when it is
dear. The demand, therefore, partly depends upon the value [price]. But it was
before laid down that the value depends on the demand. . From this contradiction
how can we extricate ourselves ? How solve the paradox of two things, each depending
on the other ? "
How indeed ? I could not imagine that anyone who had
read the "Wealth of Nations " should have so completely mis-
understood the nature of the question which is here so apparently
mystified in a cloud of words. A ratio can be established be-
tween abundance and scarcity, which are of the very essence
of the question, whereas demand and supply is merely a local
feature in a fall and rise of prices.*
* When the quantity is proportioned to the requirements of the market it is the
mean or natural state, Then the just and natural value may be said to agree with
the price.
ETHICS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. 223
The following classification may help the reader to a better
understanding of this complex word in its various applications : —
(i.) GRATUITOUS VALUE. — Natural agents, utility of things
in use, such as seaweed and shell-fish picked up on the sea-shore.
Also, in an abstract sense, the value of friendship and friendly
advice.
(2.) ONEROUS VALUE. — Labour bestowed on land and sea
in production, and on adapting materials for the use of man;
the labour and services of men in their distribution by sea and
land, roads, rivers, and canals, and all other methods of exchange.
Also all services of men to one another in the civil and moral
government of society and protection of the State — literary and
professional men, &c.
(3.) FANCY VALUE. — This is of an aesthetic kind, which is
not governed or estimated by the laws of trade, and the price
paid, although estimated in money, is not in any proportion to
cost of production or the utility of the article. These are works
of art, articles of vertu, things sought after for their rarity and
beauty. The services of musicians, actors, showmen, and such
like, who administer to our amusement*
Although reluctant to interrupt my own argument, I must
give one more specimen of the confusion and trifling which mark
the treatment of this important subject by a professional writer
who foisted himself into ephemeral fame by attacks on Scotch
philosophy, and who passes as the greatest authority on the
science of wealth and government of society. The authority
cited by Stuart Mill is De Quincey, and from the highly imagin-
ary example of the law of demand and supply, I am disposed to
think De Quincey must have been under the influence of opium,
for it does greater credit to his imagination than to his sagacity,
and indicates the same amount of ignorance regarding the practi-
cal business of life as characterises the whole treatment of the law
of value by Stuart Mill, who says. —
As was pointed out in the last chapter, the utility of a thing in the estimation
of a purchaser is the extreme limit of its exchange value : higher the value cannot
ascend; peculiar circumstances are required to raise it so high. This topic is happily
* It will be observed the landlord qua landlord can find no place in these cate-
gories,
224 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
illustrated by Mr De Quincey :— " Walk into almost any possible shop, buy the first
article you see : What will determine its price? In the ninety-nine cases out of a
hundred, simply the element D— difficulty of attainment. The other element U, or
intrinsic utility, will be perfectly inoperative. Let the thing (measured by its uses)
be, for your purposes, worth ten guineas, so that you would rather give ten guineas
than lose it ; yet, if the difficulty of producing it be only worth one guinea, one guinea
is the price which it will bear. But still not the less, though U is inoperative, can U
be supposed absent? By no possibility; for, if it had been absent, assuredly you
would not have bought the article even at the lowest price. U acts upon you, though
it does not act upon the price. On the other hand, in the hundredth case, we will
suppose the circumstances reversed : you are on Lake Superior in a steamboat, making
your way to an unsettled region, 800 miles ahead of civilisation, and consciously with
no chance at all of purchasing any luxury whatsoever, little luxury or big luxury, for
the space of ten years to come. One fellow-passenger, whom you will part with before
sunset, has a powerful musical snuff-box. Knowing by experience the power of such
a toy over your own feelings, the magic with which at times it lulls your agitation of
mind, you are vehemently desirous to purchase it. In the hour of leaving London
you had forgot to do so ; here is a final chance. But the owner, aware of your situa-
tion not less than yourself, is determined to operate by a strain pushed to the very
uttermost upon U, upon the intrinsic worth of the article in your individual estimate
for your individual purposes. Pie will not hear of D as any controlling power or miti-
gating agency in the case ; and, finally, although at six guineas a-piece in London or
Paris you might have loaded a waggon with such boxes, you pay sixty rather than lose
it, when the last knell of the clock has sounded, which summons you to buy now or to
forfeit for ever. Here, as before, only one clement is operative : before it was D,
now it is U. But, after all, D was not absent, though inoperative. The inertness of
D allowed U to put forth its total effect. The practical compression of D being with-
drawn, U springs up, like water in a pump when released from the pressure of air.
Yet still that D was present to your thoughts, though the price was otherwise regu-
lated, is evident ; both because U and D must co-exist in order to found any case of
exchange value whatever, and because undeniably you take into very particular con-
sideration this D, the extreme difficulty of attainment (which here is the greatest pos-
sible, viz., an impossibility) before you consent to have the price reached up to U.
The special D has vanished; but it is replaced in your thoughts by an unlimited D.
Undoubtedly you have submitted to U in extremity as the regulating force of the price;
but it was under a sense of D's latent presence. Yet D is so far from exerting any
positive force, that the retirement of D from all agency whatever on the price— this it
is which creates, as it were, a perfect vacuum, and through that vacuum U rushes up
to its highest and ultimate gradation." On this jargon Stuart Mill begins to comment
thus:— "This case, in which the value is wholly regulated by the necessities or desires
of the purchaser, is the case of strict and absolute monopoly."
If Stuart Mill had ever given signs of possessing any humour,
or any sense of the ludicrous, one might suppose that he meant
the above as a burlesque upon a subject which he regarded as too
trivial for the serious consideration of a philosopher ; but from
his well-known character we can hardly suppose that to have
been his object. We must therefore conclude, as indeed we
ETHICS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. 225
have already seen, that he was utterly unable to explain the
phenomena of value on his utilitarian theories.
But let me briefly explain the action of demand and supply.
It must be borne in mind that Adam Smith was contemplating
the commerce of the world and elucidating its movements and
laws from a fundamental proposition. Now, it must be clear to
every one that, if that proposition is controverted or superseded,
another system must take its place if it deserve the name of
science ; and, in speaking of political economy, it would be well
to ask those who profess to have any belief in it, or attach im-
portance to it, Which political economy — that of the Scotch
Idealists, or that of the English Materialists ? But to proceed.
Now, we know that a great part of the capital of every country is
invested in a stock of commodities, and Adam Smith always
refers to this as capital stock ; but the school have dropped the
term, and we now hear of nothing but capital. We know, further,
that the markets of the world, and even retail shops, are supplied
with stock which is very often equal to six months' consumption
or supply. The supply is therefore always in advance of the
demand, but buyers, as we know, watch the abundance or
scarcity in production with the keenest interest. For instance,
let us take the Liverpool cotton market. The reports of the
American Agricultural Bureau are looked for with greater
interest than the Queen's speech. Every fluctuation in the
arrivals at the American ports is carefully, what is called, dis-
counted, and, at the same time, the arrivals and deliveries at
Liverpool are daily and hourly reported ; the brokers' ears are
sharper than those of an eavesdropper, and their eyes than needles
— a piercing look of intelligence darts from every corner, and
scans the expression of every face in the Exchange. Bargains
are going on and sales effected, the price oscillating by, what
Adam Smith calls, the higgling of the market. Under these
processes prices rise above and fall below the line of natural value,
like (as I have already said) the perturbations of a planet in its
orbit. This is the case with every market in the world. I, then,
ask every reader if it requires the illustration of a musical snuff-
box on Lake Superior to make him understand it ?
Now, let me set before the reader the fundamental law laid
down in the "Wealth of Nations," and the terms of the inquiry
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which the great author set himself to investigate, and which, let
it be observed, are expressed with that precision, simplicity, and
clearness of thought which can hardly be surpassed :—
I. What is the real measure of this exchangeable value; or, wherein consists the
real price of all commodities?
II. What are the different parts of which this real price is composed or made up?
III. And what are the different circumstances which sometimes raise some or
all of these different parts of price above, and sometimes sink them below, their
natural or ordinary rate; or, what are the causes which sometimes hinder the market
price of commodities from coinciding exactly with what may be called their natural
price ?
In answer to this essential and primary proposition, as well
as in order to illustrate and prove from the greatest authority the
validity of my own observations, let me give a few extracts : —
' ' Labour, therefore, is the real measure of the exchangeable value of all com-
modities."
" Labour alone, therefore, never varying in its own value, is alone the ultimate
and real standard by which the value of all commodities can at all times and places be
estimated and compared* It is their real price; money is their nominal price only."
" Labour, therefore, it appears, evidently is the only universal, as well as the
only accurate, measure of value, or the only standard by which we can compare the
values of different commodities at all times and at all places."
Now, need the reader wonder that the so-called political
economy of the utilitarian school should have become unintelli-
gible as a science of logical deductions.
But there is still another conception of the mind as to value,
which carries it into the sphere of ethics designated in the Ethics
of Aristotle, namely, Distributive Justice. He writes :—
It follows, therefore, that the just must imply four terms at least; for the persons
to whom the just relates are two, and the things that are the subjects of the actions
are two. And there will be the same equality between the persons and between the
things; for as the things are to one another, so are the persons, for if the persons are
unequal, they will not have equal things.
But hence all disputes arise when equal persons have unequal things, or unequal
persons have, and have assigned to them, equal things. Again, this is clear from the
expression "according to worth" (value), for, in the distribution, all agree that justice
ought to be according to some standard of worth. . . . Justice is, therefore,
something proportionate; for proportion is the property not of arithmetical numbers
only, but of number universally; for proportion is an equality of ratio, and implies four
terms at least. Now, it is clear that disjunctive proportion implies four terms; but
continuous proportion is in four terms also, for it will use one term in place of two,
and mention it twice. For instance, as A to B so is B to C; B has therefore been
ETHICS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. 227
mentioned twice. So that if B be put down twice, the terms of the proportion are
four. Moreover, the just also implies four terms at least, the ratio is the same, for the
persons and the things are similarly divided. Therefore, as the term A to the term B,
so will be the term C to the term D; and therefore, alternately, as A to C so B to D.
So that the whole also bears the same proportion to the whole which the distribution
puts together in pairs; and if it puts them together in this way, it puts them together
justly. The conjunction, therefore, of A and C and of B and D is the just in the dis-
tribution; and this just is a mean, that is, a mean between those things which are con-
trary to proportion; for the proportionate is a mean, and the just is proportionate.
As already said, some economists were engaged upon the
idea of a general rise or a general fall in all values. Now, the
idea is an absurd one, for, regarding value as a mean proportional,
no change can take place in it until a change takes place in either
of the extremes ; and we find this to be the case in actual experi-
ence with regard to labour and money, the standard of value. If
we apply the " continuous proportion," the formula would read
thus : As the produce of labour is to value, so is value to money,
which is also the produce of labour. It should, therefore, appear
that value consists in labour, and that its rewards depend upon
the amount of exertion and rewards from the products and
bounties of nature.
Then, with regard to " disjunctive proportion," he says that
there are two persons and two things, and as the two persons are
unequal, they cannot have equal things. Each ought to have
according to his worth or merit. In commerce, for instance,
there are only two persons and two things : the employer and
labourer, or employed ; capital and labour ; the rewards are
profits and wages. We can, therefore, say according to the
formula : As wages are to profits, so is the labourer to the em-
ployer ; or, as labour is to capital, so is the labourer to the capi-
talist I may safely leave it to the intelligent reader to work out
by examples such practical applications of the proportionals, by
alternating and compounding them, as his own experience may
suggest to him.
To large employers of labour the practical working out of
this formula might be very useful in obviating disputes and
strikes, if they could first condescend or agree upon the propor-
tion between labour and capital, wages and profit
But it will be seen that, in a dual system of agriculture, there
are three persons — the landlord, the farmer, and the labourer —
228 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
and only two things ; land and labour. Therefore, the landlord,
as such, cannot come within the equation of justice.
Having so far quoted the world-famed philosopher, it is most
appropriate to these pages, and to my subject, that I should call
attention to the estimation in which he held the Highlanders. In
treating of the mean of virtue, he remarks with regard to bravery
as follows : —
But those who are in the extreme of excess there are two kinds, one who is ex-
cessive in fearlessness, who is not named (and we have often stated that many of these
extremes are not named); but he (if, as is said of the Celts, he fears nothing, neither
earthquake nor waves) may be called mad or insensate.
Ah me ! he fears the landlord and factors, but not the earth-
quakes and waves !
Guernsey. MALCOLM MACKENZIE.
(To be continued.)
PROFESSOR BLACKIE AND THE SUTHERLAND CLEARANCES.—
The following Letter to the Editor appeared in the Scotsman of February the i;th: —
" 9 Douglas Crescent, Edinburgh, February 10, 1883. — Sir,— I have received letters
from persons whose opinion I respect, complaining of my use of the term ' infamous,'
in connection with the well-known evictions in Strathnaver which took place at the
beginning of the present century. I am perfectly willing to recall that term, and to
say that these clearances were ' harsh and inhuman.' That is all that I ever said in
my printed work, and all that I cared to say about them. I may say, however, also,
that, in my opinion, they were unwise and impolitic in the highest degree ; and the
only excuse for them is, that they were perpetrated under the operation of land laws
which gave, and still give, to the lords of the soil and their agents and underlings,
what in practice amounts to an absolute power over the native population of the glens.
Those who wish to study in detail the sad history of Highland depopulations under the
influence of unjust land laws, commercial greed, and administrative neglect, should
read 'The History of Highland Clearances,' recently published by A. Mackenzie (of
the Celtic Magazine), Inverness. I have been also requested to state where the
passage from Sismondi occurs, quoted by me in my address at the crofters' meeting.
The passage runs thus : — ' If the lords of the soil in the Highlands once begin to think
they have no need of the people, the people may take it into their head some day that
they have no need of them,' and will be found in the Etudes sur V Economic Politique,
parj. C. L. Simonde de Sismondi, Paris, 1837, Vol. I. p. 238. — I am, &c.,
"JOHN STUART BLACKIE."
HISTORY OF THE MATHESONS. -Mr Alexander Mackenzie has compiled
a History and Genealogy of the Mathesons which gives a very full and interesting
account of the fortunes of this important Highland family— more fortunate than some
others which have played a part in our past history, in that its decayed fortunes have
been superbly restored in the last and piesent generations. The book includes
some valuable incidental information about the condition of the Highlands in the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.— Scotsman, January 2jtht 1883.
229
A RUN THROUGH CANADA AND THE STATES.
BY KENNETH MACDONALD, F.S.A, Scot.
IV.— FROM GLENGARRY TO TORONTO.
AMERICAN railway travelling has been frequently described.
The cars have a platform and steps at each end, where also the
doors are. A passage runs along the centre of the car from end
to end, and by means of the platforms the traveller can stand in
the open air as he journeys, and see the country through which
he passes, in a manner and to an extent which would be impos-
sible in our trains, or he can pass from car to car through the
whole train, changing his company, or enjoying a quiet weed just
when it suits him.
When I left Lancaster I intended to follow the Grand Trunk
Line as far as Prescott, a distance of about sixty miles, and there
take the St Lawrence and Ottawa Railway for Ottawa, the Capi-
tal of the Dominion. I had been informed, however, before
leaving Lancaster that the Canadian Pacific Company were work-
ing the line from Prescott to the Capital, and that only freight
trains were being run over it, and that to get from the Grand
Trunk System to Ottawa I should have to go on to Brockville,
about thirteen miles beyond Prescott, and there join the Canadian
Pacific Railway. The Grand Trunk officials at Lancaster could
not or would not give me any information, but referred me to the
conductor of the train I was to travel by. Depending upon getting
information from this official I had my baggage checked for
Prescott from Lancaster. I took the earliest opportunity of in-
terviewing the conductor of the train, but, with many expressions
of regret, he declared his inability to give me any information
about the line from Prescott. By this time, the weather which
had been threatening all the morning declared itself, and the rain
came down in torrents. At times it became so heavy as to ap-
pear almost like a solid body of water. The prospect of being
left at a wayside station on such a day to wait an hour or two
for the departure of a train that might possibly not depart at all
Q
23o THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
was by no means inviting, and I accordingly decided to go right
on to Toronto, and leave Ottawa until my return from the West.
The difficulty, however, was my baggage. It was checked to
Prescott, and unless I looked very sharply after it, it would be
landed there and left behind. This was a difficulty I did not
attach much importance to, but the baggage-man apparently saw
difficulties which I did not, and after first declaring " it could
not be done," got rid of me at last by promising to see what
could be done when we got to Prescott. This suited me well
enough, and when we got to Prescott I was in front of the
baggage waggon almost before the train stopped, and by a
judicious use of the influences at my disposal, which, although
limited, were powerful, the difficulties were overcome, and my
baggage re-checked to Toronto.
I had now a journey of over 220 miles before me, with over
nine hours to do it in, and I sat down to wait for the inquisitive
American so familiar to readers on this side the Atlantic, and so
unfamiliar to travellers on the other side — the gentleman who,
without introduction, comes up to you on a railway car, and, hav-
ing settled himself comfortably on the opposite seat and expector-
ated a mouthful of tobacco-juice over your boots, begins, " Waal,
stranger, I guess you're a Britisher! What dew you think of this
great country?" and then proceeds to examine you in detail as to
your age, parentage, business, and destination. I was simple
enough to believe that, if I managed to look innocent and unoc-
cupied, the typical Yankee of the books would develop himself.
I tried to look innocent with what success I cannot say, and I
certainly was unoccupied, but the fish would not bite, or the sort
of Yank I wanted was not about. So I thought at the time.
Now, after travelling over about six thousand miles of American
soil without meeting a single specimen, or seeing any person who
had met one, I am inclined to think the species is extinct, if,
indeed, it ever existed.
It soon became evident that unless I managed to open a
conversation with some person myself I would be left to pursue
my journey in silence. This was not at all what I had bargained
for, as I had calculated on obtaining a good deal of information
from my fellow-travellers while moving from one place to another.
True, in making this calculation I had counted on the assistance
THROUGH CANADA AND THE STATES. 231
of the "inquisitive American" to open the conversation, when,
being fairly proficient in asking questions, I meant to turn the
tables on him and find out what he knew. But now the Ameri-
can failing me, I had to depend entirely on my own resources.
I began to move about from seat to seat and car to car looking
and listening for a sign or sound which might indicate where a
paying vein of conversation might be struck. By-and-bye, in
the last car but one of the train I came on two gentlemen, both
apparently men of education, discussing politics. I sat down on
the seat opposite them, which happened to be vacant, and as the
conversation was carried on in tones loud enough to be audible
further away than I was, I had no occasion to disguise the fact
that I was listening to what was said. I was not long a mere
listener, however. After a short time one of the speakers left
the train, and I resolved, if possible, to engage the remaining
one in conversation. He was a man of apparently between
forty and fifty years of age, of middle size, and with a
shrewd but withal a kindly face. A conversation was soon
started, and mutual explanations brought out the fact that
we were to be travelling companions for several hours, and
that my newly-made friend was a Mr Eraser, a dry-goods mer-
chant in Picton, Ontario. Mr Eraser is a Canadian born, but
he told me he believed his father came from Scotland, but from
what part he did not know. On mentioning Mr Eraser's name
afterwards to Mr Hugh Miller, of Toronto, that gentleman stated
that he believed Mr Eraser's father had come from about Strath-
peffer. Picton, where Mr Eraser is located, is a town situated
on the Bay of Quinte, and the business in which that gentle-
man is interested is one of the largest in the place. From Picton,
as from other parts of Ontario, there has been a considerable
movement westwards of late years. Young men of energy and
ability, after a few years experience behind the counter, fired
with a desire to better their position, go westward to Manitoba,
or the North-West Territory, and some of them to British
Columbia, and there with their slender capital begin in a small
way in a new settlement, grow with the place, and in a few years
become men of comparatively large means. There have been so
many instances of success of this kind that, according to my
informant, Ontario is being constantly depleted of its store assist-
232 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
ants or clerks, and there is consequently always room for new
men. In his own business he told me boys received usually 200
dollars a-year to begin with, and after four or five years service
they received 400 a-year, rising afterwards as they increased in
experience and usefulness, to 500 and 600 dollars a year. These
wages are not particularly high, but they compare favourably with
the wages of the same class in this country, in towns of similar
size to Picton, which has only about 3000 inhabitants. I did not
ascertain what the cost of living, to a man earning these wages,
would be, but I leafned that experienced milliners were paid as
high as 400 dollars a year, and that sewing girls, who might be
described as learners, were paid at the rate of four dollars a week,
while they could live comfortably on two and a-half dollars. The
cost of a single man's board and lodging would, of course, be very
much the same, so that in both cases there is a fair margin for
saving, even when allowance is made for the increased cost of
clothing and other necessaries, over the cost of corresponding
articles on this side. Domestic servants are paid eight, ten, and
twelve dollars per month — sometimes, but rarely, as low as six
dollars — with a constant demand for them. Saving habits
seem to be the rule with all classes, although there are
many exceptions. Every store clerk aspires to have a store
of his own, and most farm labourers aspire to be farmers, but
generally when the clerk desires to open a store he moves to
a new locality, and a farm servant becoming a farmer has often
to do likewise. Of farm servants who have become large and
wealthy farmers the number is legion, and of clerks who have
become wealthy merchants the number is also large. One in-
stance among many of the latter kind mentioned to me was that
of a young man who, after a few years' experience behind the
counter, left Picton nine years ago with a few hundred dollars he
had saved of his earnings. He settled in a western village
which has now become a town, and at the time my informant
spoke he had amassed a fortune of 50,000 dollars, and was making
from fifteen to twenty thousand dollars a-year. Shrewdness in
selecting a locality to settle in counts for a good deal, and luck
counts for more. Given these two, men of average ability and
industry rapidly amass a competency, and this is especially true
of settlers in the new North- West,
THROUGH CANADA AND THE STATES. 233
Canadian politics are, I believe, as little known by the gene-
rality of my countrymen as they were by me when I first set foot
on Canadian soil. But politics bulk much more largely in the
mind of the average Canadian than they do with the average
Scotsman. We are politicians at election time; they are politi-
cians all the time. You can rarely converse with a Canadian for
a quarter of an hour, however carefully you may wish to avoid
politics, without finding out to which of the political parties in*
the Dominion he is attached. So with my friend from Picton.
He was talking politics when I first saw him, and, although the
subject with which we had started led away from politics for a
time, we soon returned to them. In fact, the cause of the pre-
sent material prosperity of Canada is made a political question.
I could not have done better than follow my friend into politics.
A traveller in Canada hears and reads many things which he
cannot understand unless he understands the politics of the
country; and during my whole tour I did not meet any person
who spoke more intelligently on the principles of the two political
parties than this unpretentious dry-goods merchant. The two
parties are generally known as Liberals and Conservatives, but
the Conservatives prefer the name " Liberal-Conservative," while
they call their opponents "Grits," and sometimes the "Grit-Rouge
Party." The Conservative Leader is the present Prime Minister of
Canada, Sir John A. Macdonald, while the Liberals were, until
lately, led by the Hon. Alexander Mackenzie, the late Prime
Minister. Mr Mackenzie recently resigned the leadership of
the party on account of ill-health ; but he is still regarded all
through the Dominion as the real head of the party whose policy
is his, and there can be little doubt that should the Liberals again
succeed to power during Mr Mackenzie's lifetime, the man
whose sterling native integrity a long political life has failed to
touch, and whose praise is in the mouth of every Canadian,
political foe as well as friend, (for he has no personal foe), will
become again the nominal as well as the real leader and head of
the party.
The two questions which occupy the most prominent part
in the Canadian political mind at present are the Land Question
and the so-called National Policy of the present Government;
but there is this difference between the two, that while the latter
THE CELTIC MAGAZINE
interests the whole of Canada more or less from Nova Scotia to
British Columbia, the former, for the present, interests chiefly the
actual or intending Western settler. My travelling companion did
not apparently interest himself very much in the squatter ques-
tion, or in the policy which guided the Government in its land
grants, but he took a very decided and intelligent interest in the
question of Protection, the "National Policy" of Sir John A. Mac-
donald. A Liberal on every other question, he was a Tory and
Protectionist on this. For the Leader of the Liberal party (Mr
Mackenzie), he expressed the highest admiration, and said that
he had been a strong supporter of himself and his party until
the question of protecting native industries became a test ques-
tion in politics. When this occurred he fought with the party
against whom he had previously acted, and he apparently was
satisfied that in doing so he had done well. It is almost impossi-
ble for a person trained in the traditions of Free Trade, as nearly
every person in this country is, to accept right-off the state-
ment of any person in any country, that Protection, under certain
circumstances, or under any circumstances, is a good thing, and I
therefore readily entered the lists in support of our National Policy
as against the policy bearing the same name in Canada. My object,
however, was to obtain information, and I took care to do little
more than lead my opponent on in defence of the Canadian system.
The present Government in Canada went into office several years
ago, pledged to a Protectionist policy, and, after remaining in
office some five years, they went to the country again on the same
issue, and were again returned to power, so that there can be no
doubt what the Canadian mind is on the subject. Whether the
Canadian is right or wrong, time only will show ; but there is no
doubt that at present the country is more prosperous than it was
before the present policy was inaugurated. The people are earn-
ing more money, and are therefore more contented ; the Revenue
flourishes, and trade flourishes with it ; and while things continue
to wear their present rosy hue, no amount of argument, based on
abstract theories of political economy, will convince the Canadian
that Protection ought to be abandoned for even such a moderate
measure of Free Trade as he enjoyed before the advent of Sir
John Macdonald's party to power. The examples given by my
informant of individual and collective progress under the present
THROUGH CANADA AND THE STATES. 235
system seemed to satisfy him, if it did not satisfy me, that Pro-
tection had saved Canada. It was to be expected that, under a
system of Protection, particular individuals interested in protected
industries should benefit, but it has usually been contended that
they profited at the expense of the consumer, and that the masses
suffered that the individual might grow rich. In Canada my
friend averred this experience had not been realised. Until the
system of Protection was inaugurated, the manufacturer carried
on his business at a loss, and the labourer was unable to earn
enough to purchase what he required of the commodities which
Free Trade enabled him to buy more cheaply than they can be
purchased now. A few years ago about 2000 unemployed and
starving men robbed the bread carts in Montreal. Last summer
the same men, unskilled labourers most if not all of them, not
content with the wages they were receiving (25 cents per hour),
struck work for 30 cents, or is. 3d. per hour. In other depart-
ments of labour the result is the same. Work has become abun-
dant, and wages high. While this change has taken place in the
earnings of the labourer, my informant averred there had been
no material change in the cost of living. Under the old system
he maintained that, although certain necessaries might be cheaper
than they are at present, the labouring classes were so poor, in
consequence of the frequent want of employment, that they were
unable to purchase them, while now their increased wages enable
them, not only to pay the increased price of necessaries, but to
indulge in certain luxuries, and yet save money. Whether all
this prosperity is to be attributed to Protection, as against Free
Trade, I cannot say. Even in our country of Free Trade, we
know something of the fluctuations of commerce. A series of
bad years is followed by a series of good ones, and vice versa, and
if, at the beginning of the new cycle, a change of commercial
policy took place, it might get the credit or discredit of a result
for which it was not in any way responsible. Whether this has
been the case in Canada or not, I do not venture to say. The
Canadians are satisfied with their present prosperity, and so long
as they are satisfied, no outsider need criticise their system.
K. M'D.
(To be continued.)
236 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
ORAN NA H-OIGE.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
Sir, — I send you a copy of " Oran na h-oige," an unpub-
lished song by John MacCodrum, the Uist Bard. I give it as I
took it down from the recitation of Donald Laing, residing at
Howmore, in South Uist, a man who was possessed of great
stores of Gaelic poetry, both published and unpublished, but was
some years ago gathered to his fathers. The accompanying
poem seems to have suffered to some extent in the course of
oral tradition. Verse 2 contains two lines taken out of Alex-
ander Macdonald's " Oran a Gheamhraidh." Borrowing is
difficult to impute to so original a bard as MacCodrum himself,
and must have been inserted to supply lines which dropped out
of the reciter's memory. Verses 7 and 10 do not convey the
poet's meaning with his usual clearness, and must to some extent
have suffered also since receiving their original form. The word
deaghad in verse 7 is in use in Uist, and signifies mode of living,
but seems to be a corruption of the English word diet. The
poem on the whole is well worthy of preservation. — Yours, &c.,
A. M'D.
ORAN NA H-OIGE.
An toiseach nam bhliadhnaichean ur,
Deireadh gheamhraidhean udlaidh nam fras,
'Nuair is anmoiche dh'eireas a ghrian,
'S is lionmhoire shileas an sneachd,
Bi'dh gach leanabh, gach naoidhean bochd maoth,
A' gabhail gu saothair 's gu cnead,
Aig geirid an fhaileidh 's an fhuachd,
Nach faodar an gluasad bho nead.
'N toiseach earraich bi'dh gearran fliuch garbh
Chuireas caluinn gach ainmhidh air ais,
" Thig tein' adhair, thig torunn 'na dheigh,
Thig gaillionn, thig eireadh, nach lag."
Bi'dh gach leanabh, gach naoidhean bochd maoth,
Nach urrainn doibh innse 'de staid.
Gun eirbheirt, gun asdar, gun luth,
Gus an teirig an dubhlachd air fad.
Am mart tioram ri todhar nan crann,
A' sughadh gach allt 'us gach eas ;
Gach luibh 'bhios an garadh no 'n coill,
Gun snodhach, gun duilleach, gun mheas.
ORAN NA H-OIGE, 237
Bi'dh turadh fuar, fionnar, gun bhlas,
A crubadh gach ail a thig ris ;
Bi'dh gach creutair 'n robh aiceid o'n Mhart
Tigh'nn air eiginn o'n bhas, no dol leis.
Mios grianach, ur, fheurach, an aigh,
'M bi gach luibh a' cur blath os a ceann,
Nach boidheach bhi 'g arach gach luis,
Ur, alluinn, fo ghucaig, 's fo dhriuchd !
Bi gach deoiridh 'n robh aiceid o'n Mhart
Fas gu buadhach, snuadhmhor, glan, ur,
Le eirbheirt, le coiseach, 's le cainnt,
'N deigh gach bochdainn 's gach sgraing chur air chul.
Baile Bhealltuinn nan cuinneag 's nan st6p,
Nam measraichean mora lom-lan,
Trom torrach, le uibhean 's le coin,
Le bainne, le feoil, 's le gruth bau.
Fasaidh gillean cho mear ris na feidh,
Ri mire, ri leum, 'us ri snamh,
lad gun lethtrom, gun airtneul, gun sgios,
Sior ghreasad gu ire 's gu fas.
Mios dubharrach, bruthainneach, blath,
Bheir sineadh 'us fas air a' ghart :
Fasaidh gillean an iongantas m6r
Le iomadaidh bosd agus beairt.
lad gun stamhnadh, gun mhunadh 'nan ceill,
Cuid de 'n nadur cho fiadhaich ri each,
'N duil nach 'eil e 's nach robh e fo'n ghrein,
Ni chuireas riu fein aig meud neart.
'N tusa 'n dume 'm bheil iomadaidh bosd,
C'uim' nach amhairc thu foil air gach taobh?
A bhi beairteach seach iomadaidh neach,
No bhi taitneach mu choinneamh nan sttl ?
'N tigh creadha so 'm bheil thu 'n ad thamh,
Cheis chneadhaig, ni cnamh anns an uir,
Ma 's droch dheaghad a bh' agad 'san fheoil,
Thig fhathasd ort d6ruinn 'ga chionn.
Cia mar dh'eireas do 'n choluinn 'n robh 'm bosd,
'Nuair a theid i 'sa' bhord chiste dhluth?
Cia mar dh'eireas do 'n teanga 'n robh cheilg,
No do 'n chridhe bha deilbh a mhi-run?
No do dh'uinneagan buairidh nam miann,
Dh'fhag bruaillean a'd' inntinn o thus :
'S grannda 'n sloe anns an robh iad a'd' cheann,
'N deigh a stopadh le poll 'us le uir.
238 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
'N deigh a stopadh le poll 'us le uir
Anns a' chlosaich gun diubh is beag toirt,
'S am beagan a thug thu leat sios,
Bheirear buileach e dhiot anns an t-sloc ;
Cia 'n aghaidh bu mhaisiche fiamh?
Cia do shuilean, cia t-fhiaclan, cia t-fhalt?
Cia na meoirean an glacaibh nan lamh,
'Bha cur seachad gach spairn a rug ort?
'Nuair a dh'fhalbhas an samhradh ciuin blath,
Theid gach uamhar 's gach ardan air chul,
Bi'dh cnuimh-itheann 'gar 'n ithe 's gur searg
Ris an abair iad farmad 'us tnu ;
'Nuair nach foghainn 'na dh'fhoghnadh de'n bhiadh,
'S nach foghuinn 'na lionas a bhru,
Cha robh. bheairteas aig Solamh 's aig lob
'Na' thoilicheadh comhla do shuil.
Gur e 'n gaisgeach nach gealtach am bks,
Leis an coingeis an saoibhir no 'm bochd,
'Nuair a thilgeas e 'n gath nach teid iomrall
Cho cuimseach ri urchair a mhoisg.
Cha 'n amhairc e dh'inbhe no dh'uaisl',
Ach gach ardan 's gach uamhar 'na 'thosd,
'S ni cinnteach 'shiol Adhamh o thus,
Bas nadurr' 'us cunntas 'na chois.
MILITARY ARDOUR OF THE HIGHLANDERS.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
GREENOCK, loth February 1883.
SIR,— In the Celtic Magazine of this month, I find Sir Kenneth Mackenzie, in
his address at the Gaelic Society annual meeting, remarking — "We have constant refer-
ence to the military ardour of the Highlanders, in the latter half of the last century, as
shown in the great number of regiments then raised here. There is no question regard-
ing the number of regiments that were raised, nor is there any as to the excellence of
the material of which they were composed. The Highland regiments have always
been remarkable for their valour and their good behaviour, and have distinguished
themselves whenever brought into action under fit commanders. But was there really
a great deal of military ardour in the Highlands during the last century ? We are
quite in the dark so far as printed records are concerned, as to whether when these
regiments were first raised, the rank and file flocked of their own free will to the
standard, or whether they were pressed into the service by chiefs and lairds, who
wanted commissions for their sons. The time is not so distant but that ample
traditionary information on the subject should be procurable."
This is a very pertinent suggestion for a Celtic society to consider, and on which
some light is very desirable. In our day the military ardour of the Highlanders, and
their good fighting qualities in the past, seem, with many, to- be their chief claim for
MILITARY ARDOUR OF HIGHLANDERS. 239
consideration, and a stranger that does not know their thoughts and habits would be
ready to conclude that Scottish Highlanders as a race are so constituted that they
take a special delight in fighting without much cause, and are ready to say with Burns : —
" Bring a Scotchman frae the hills,
Clap in his cheek a Hieland gill ;
Say such is royal Geordie's will,
And there the foe,
He has nae thocht, but how to kill
Twa at a blow."
Such language is only a perversion of the facts, for the native Highlanders were, and
are, much attached to their hearths and homes, however humble ; and it required a
great pressure to make them become knights-errant to fight the miserable wars of the
Georges.
Sir Kenneth says we have no printed records bearing on this subject. Very true.
Of this subject we have no such records as we have of the villanies of the press-gang
in our sea-ports about that time ; still we know enough of the evil deeds of some of
the lairds to make our blood yet boil.
I shall relate some of the hardships endured in a parish in the district of Cowal,
which, I presume, was not an exception to other parts of the Highlands. An in-
fluential laird in this parish had a large family of sons, to whom the Government
offered inducements of posts in the army if they would recruit so many men. These
young scions, with their retainers, went round the country and seized upon all passable
men, whether single or married. My grandfather, a married man, and a tailor to-
trade, was plying his calling, with a fellow-tradesman, in one of the farm-houses at the
head of the parish, and before they were aware, the laird's sons and their retainers got
scent of their being there, and surrounded the house. My grandfather was caught,
yet so determined was he to be free, that he slipped out of the house, made a rush into
a near brook and took up a stone with which he broke his leg ; but the other tailor
being a powerful man, made a dash, got clear of his captors, left the country, and never
returned. This incident is told in Mr J. F. Campbell's Tales, in a foot-note to the
story of " Conal Gulban."
My grandfather being now disabled, was allowed to go home the best way he
could, but his troubles did not end there. In about ten years he was seized by the
press-gang in Greenock, and was put on board a man-of-war, which was sent to the
west of Ireland, where he remained for six months, when a humane officer from Argyll-
shire, on board, learned of his circumstances, interceded on his behalf, and got him
released. Another man in the same parish escaped from the recruiters into a cave,
where his wife supplied him with food at night. One stormy evening, as he came to
the mouth of the cave, he saw a clump of heather moving above him, which he mistook
for his pursuers. In order to escape he made a desperate bound over a rock, which
dislocated his shoulder, and then ventured home. Many others fled from their pursuers
to the North Country herring fishing, in some cases without anything but their body
clothing.
No doubt the lairds managed to entrap many brave fellows in that district,
which helped to make the original Highland regiments famous. But it was neither
their military ardour nor any sympathy they had for the extremities of the Government
that made them become soldiers, but the misfortune of being kidnapped, and forced
into a foreign service.
A. B.
24o THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
HIGHLAND SUFFERINGS; HIGHLAND WRONGS.
"The Highlanders required to unite and assert themselves in an age of change
and dissolution They had made the empire familiar with ....
HIGHLAND WRONGS AND HIGHLAND SUFFERINGS." — Speech of Mr Ban-on at In-
verness Gaelic Society's Meeting.
' ' Highland suffer ings ! Highland wrongs /"
Theme of sorrow's tales and songs ;
What are these? O ! speaker tell,
Thou who know'st the Highlands well ;
Dost thou blush for Highland fame
At the deeds thou durst not name?
Art thou fearful lest the story
Should confound each Whig and Tory,
And deprive thee of the smile
Which can only weaklings wile ?
Hast thou not a Highland heart,
Or the sympathetic part
To denounce or to expose
, Wrongs which are thy country's woes?
What is nobler in a man
Than in doing all he can
By his voice and by his pen
For his suffering countrymen?
Suffering ! and for what? or why?
Answer me with truth's reply ;
Answer me ! as one of those
Now enduring Highland woes ;
Answer me ! if thou hast felt
Wrongs that would a hard heart melt;
Answer me ! if thou hast borne
Aught of others' hate and scorn ;
Answer me ! if thou hast been
Where Eviction's deeds were seen ;
Answer me ! if thou hast known
Sorrows by another sown.
O ! that thou should'st fear to speak,
O ! that thou should'st be so weak,
Thou whose intellectual might
Shines with no uncertain light;
Unto every man belongs
Liberty to battle wrongs,
And canst thou be silent when
Sufferings blight thy fellow-men?
THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 241
Say, would'st thou a wrong suppress
When it brings unhappiness?
Would'st thou not all evils curb
When they social peace disturb?
Would'st thou not do deeds of good
For a stricken neighbourhood?
If thou fear'st to do thy duty,
Where is Life's divinest beauty ?
Highland sufferings! Highland ivrongs!
Sound them far with thunder's gongs;
From the wave- washed Hebrides!
From the isles in Highland seas!
From the shielings in each glen!
From ten thousand suffering men!
Hark! the cry of wakening might,
" Help us in our war of right!"
Ye whose hearts to justice lean,
Ye who know what sufferings mean,
Ye who pity can bestow,
Ye who feel love's purest glow,
Ye who would for Scotland's fame
Sweep away her blots of shame —
Give reply ! a million-tongued,
" Scotland shall not see ye wronged!"
Sunderland. WM. ALLAN.
THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES.— Nothing could be more opportune than
the appearance at the present moment of "A History of the Highland Clearances,"
by Mr Alexander Mackenzie, F.S.A., Scot., the Editor of the Celtic Magazine. Into
the 528 pages of which the book is composed he has gathered all the most significant
literature of the entire subject, beginning with that remarkable record, Donald Mac-
leod's "Gloomy Memories of the Highlands," which has been out of print for many a
year. . . . Macleod's narrative, which bears the stamp of truth on every line, is
one calculated to stir righteous indignation in every heart ; and its reproduction can-
not fail to-day to be productive of important practical results. It is followed by a
series of admirably arranged opinions on the Sutherland Clearances by writers of
authority. -. . . To these succeed accounts of evictions in other parts of the High-
lands ; and the closing section of the work is devoted to a detailed report of all the
recent proceedings in the Isle of Skye^ and a valuable appendix giving the population
returns of each of the Highland counties from 1801 down to the latest census. Mr
Mackenzie, it will be perceived, has produced a volume that ought to be in the hands
of every member of the Legislature, and which is simply indispensable to all who
would rightly understand the problem now awaiting solution. When we turn from
this book to the current proceedings in Parliament, it is with a feeling of impatience
that we find the spirit of cold and haughty legal pedantry still predominant in official
quarters. But Mr Mackenzie will have the satisfaction, we believe, of seeing his
volume produce a result that must give him infinitely more pleasure than any praise
such as might fairly be bestowed upon it for its literary merits. Himself the son of a
crofter, he has rendered a service to that class which will secure for his name an
enduring place in the annals of Scottish patriotism. — " Literary Notes'" in the Daily
Mail of iqth Febmary.
"THE HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS," and several other contributions,
are unavoidably held over,
242 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
7 HE LIFE OF JOHN DUNCAN, SCOTCH WEAVER AND BOTANIST.
By WILLIAM JOLLY, F.R.S.E., F.G.S. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, and
Co., 1883.
IT is Sydney Smith, we think, who points the lesson to be derived from the story of
the Deluge. At a certain period in the history of the world, he wittily relates, man-
kind was peculiarly favoured : the average duration of human life was something like
a thousand years. But the Flood came. The human race was destroyed, with the
exception of Noah and his three sons. After the Flood the average duration of the
lives of men was cut down from a thousand years to three score and ten. What is
the lesson ? Prior to the Flood, men could afford to lounge over a pamphlet for ten
years ; subsequent to the Flood, men, whether in the act of reading or in that of
hearing, were compelled to carefully consider time. The world of to-day is a different
world from that of the time of Noah. Writers of to-day, therefore, as well as
speakers, ought to take to heart the warning — Gaze at Noah, and be brief !
Mr Jolly's book is unnecessarily long : the writer has forgot the fact that human
beings have not now the time at their disposal which they seem to have had prior to
the Deluge. In every other respect, however, the work of our friend is one which
will command a place in English literature. It is one which will ever maintain a high
position in that path of literature which the writings of Mr Smiles have rendered
peculiarly attractive. Mr Jolly's book, like the best of the books of Mr Smiles, is the
narrative of merit in obscurity, of genuine work performed under unspeakable con-
ditions of hardship and poverty, of sturdy manhood and independence in circum-
stances the most antagonistic that can be conceived to the cultivation of the higher
aspirations of human nature. John Duncan is a man who, as a botanist, scientific
men must in all time admire, and whose achievements in other parts of know-
ledge, will, taking into account the environment, be regarded only with feelings
of wonder and appreciation. But for Mr Jolly's love of genuine worth, and his
deeply seated and universally acknowledged love of truth, the poor Alford weaver
would to-day have been unknown. We should have lost a story of victory in poverty,
and sustained individuality under circumstances of the most distressing nature.
Duncan was a man whose companion, from the cradle to the grave, was Want. And
yet he was a man whose achievements in botanical science are not unworthy of
members of the Royal Society. The man who had framed a " watch-dial" for himself
forty years before such a thing was brought forward to the world, with exultation and
certainty of profit as a great invention, and who had formed a botanical collection
which was to become a treasure in the University of Aberdeen, was something more
than an ordinary man. And yet how poor and how obscure ! —
" Full many a gem of purest ray serene,
The dark unfathomed caves of ocean bear ;
Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,
And waste its sweetness on the desert air."
John Duncan was born in Stonehaven in 1794, and he died in 1881. Not having
been born in wedlock, the world can never know anything of those who went before
him. All that we know of the boyhood of the botanist are circumstances the most
unfavourable that can be conceived to mental development. His earlier years of
LIFE OF JOHN DUNCAN. 243
approaching manhood were spent as a herd boy, and as an ill-used weaver's apprentice
in Drumlithie. He was sixteen years of age when he began, under the tuition of
kindly women as poor as he, to learn the alphabet; and Mr Jolly tells how that " we
have no evidence of his learning to write till almost twenty years after he came to
Drumlithie in 1828, when we .find him in his thirty-fourth year, laboriously working at
a copy-book !" But once on the road to knowledge, John Duncan never flagged till
he reached the limit of possibility. We find him ever on the move as a humble
weaver from one place to another in Aberdeenshire, till he settles in Alford. In a
worldly aspect he grows poorer. For an unfortunate marriage, a second courtship,
and that revolution in-the simple trade of the weaver which was brought about by the
introduction of steam and advanced machinery, kept him ever on the verge of poverty.
And yet with every move from place to place the mind of this remarkable man grows,
and continually his store of knowledge becomes enlarged. We read of the raw youth
who began to learn to read at sixteen, and who began to learn to write at thirty-four,
becoming soon a student of astrology, a critic of Culpepper, an astronomer with
powers of observation of no mean order, a politician well acquainted with many
of the fundamental principles of good government, a leading member of advanced
debating societies, a reader of essays on astronomy, the history of weaving, an advocate
of the teaching of natural history to children ; and, lastly, but in every sense the
most important, a botanist whose success in this department of science, and whose
enthusiastic love of study are worthy of universal admiration. The great result of his
life labour is the splendid botanical collection which is now the property, as a gift
by John Duncan, of the University of Aberdeen. It consists of —
1 . A general collection of about 500 species, arranged according to the twenty-
four classes of Linnaeus, including ferns, in various books.
2. A book containing an almost complete collection of species, about 150, re-
presenting the flora of the Vale of Alford, many being rare.
3. A book of about 50 specimens of the grasses of the Alford district.
4. A book of about 50 specimens of the cryptogamic plants of the same district,
chiefly mosses and lichens.
The whole world knows the story of the last days of the Aberdeenshire weaver— how
that Mr Jolly discovered him while he was in want and obscurity, and how that he,
out of the fullness of his heart and love of science, endeavoured to befriend him. But
the world does not know all. In 1873 (vfe write it with pain), so low were his cir-
cumstances, that the old man (now 79 years old) " took to bed sick with melancholy
heart-ache," for the first time in his life losing hope amidst the gathering blackness.
Want pressed upon him, and he was compelled to go to the Inspector of Poor. —
" That officer took note in his books, which bear that 'his average earnings were
only about two shillings a week ; he was failing in strength, and his trade was almost
gone.' He then received five shillings, and at the first meeting of the Board, on the
I7th of November 1874, he was formally admitted on the roll of paupers, at an allow-
ance of three shillings weekly ; and one of the usual pauper's cards for entering the
sums received, inscribed with his name and number, lies before me. That badge was
the consummation of his shame, as it felt to him, and seemed to stamp him with the
brand of Cain, \vhich all men might read."
To Mr Jolly is due the honour — and an honour of no mean magnitude it is —of raising
this good man from that position to the condition in which he died. In the last years
of his life John Duncan received donations for his homely comfort from every corner
of the kingdom. The Queen on the throne sent him a ten-pound note, and had he
lived, the Queen would have visited him in his humble cot last year. He died amid
companions that had been the most foreign to his career — comfort and honour,
244 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
We have room for only three quotations. The first is a picture of rural comfort,
which, before the march of "scientific" farmers (a phrase which now-a-days means de-
creased rent-rolls and depopulation) has completely disappeared.—
" Every householder had his workshop attached to his house. lie rented, more-
over, a large garden and a considerable croft of land of from two to four acres, and
kept' a cow. At early morn every day, as certainly as the sun rose, the blast of the
horn of the common village cowherd resounded over the vale ; when from every gate
a cow joined the general herd, which was led by him to the wide common in the hol-
low, below the town to the north, now under cultivation. The same merry sound
was heard in the evening, when he returned with his lowing charge, and every animal
went of her own accord to her own byre, bearing rich treasures for the pail. The
places such
his cattle in an ancient town in Angus, where the writer was born."
Our second quotation illustrates the remarkable love of science which the subject of
this book possessed. At the age of 84 he set out on a twelve miles' walk to find a
certain plant. What enthusiasm !—
" When he got well up the hill, a dreadful storm of thunder, lightning, and
heavy rain descended upon him and speedily drenched him to the skin. Still he held
on, searching over all the spots where he had found it before. But all in vain : the
shy favourite was nowhere to be seen, and he had reluctantly and with a heavy heart
to retrace his steps homewards, defeated — a rare sensation with John in such explora-
tions— and he felt the disappointment to the very core. Yet, with all the strenuous
eagerness of youth in an aged body, he could not thus lose the day, and recalling that
another rare plant used to grow on the south side of the hill, he determined to go in
search of it. The midnight shades were now descending amidst the pouring rain; but
it was midsummer, and darkness would be short. So he climbed the eastern shoulder
of the hill to the source of the Culhay Burn, for the plant grew somewhere along its
bed. This stream flows there between steep banks covered with brushwood in places,
and the old man had to grope his way down its channel in search of the prize he
sought. But as this dirty work would have soiled his old blue coat, he took it off in
the drenching pelt, and in his shirt-sleeves, clambered down the burn and along a
neighbouring dike till he found it !"
The third quotation shows very clearly how contemptible is the social life in the towns
or cities of to-day. When John Duncan, full of honour, was in Aberdeen city only a
few years since, he was asked to visit houses of consideration. But —
"Latterly, John's old-world attire and unconventional ways rather disturbed the
ladies in the households of the friends he used to visit, as violating the proprieties of
city life, to which the sex are so ardently devoted, and the want of which they find it
difficult to condone, when they are not strong and pronounced enough to shake off
the bondage in special circumstances, as in John's case. Of ' the proper,' one of the
first articles in the female creed— standing even before ' the right,' shall we say? — the
ancient weaver had not the dimmest glimpse even in the city, and it certainly was not
a little trying to feminine nerves to receive so outre a visitor, whose appearance could
not fail to draw the public eye in a way far from soothing to feminine notions regu-
lated by the social demands of 'the genteel.' On occasions— but these were few—
the petty annoyances thus created found expression in remonstrance, which was in the
old man's eyes certainly unexpected, if not a good deal painful, and which he was not
slow to mention to his male friends with indignant surprise and rebellion when it oc-
curred."
As we stated at the outset, Mr Jolly's book is capable, to a very considerable extent,
of condensation. With this reservation, we must say that he has accomplished a work
which will long stand out as an example of his broad and generous sympathies, his
true scientific culture, and his warm-hearted appreciation of faithful work, and noble
achievements.
THE
CELTIC MAGAZINE.
CONDUCTED BY
ALEXANDER MACKENZIE, F.S.A., Scot.
No. XC. APRIL 1883. VOL. VIII.
THE HIGHLAND DRESS.
BY J. G. MACKAY.
II— ANTIQUITY OF THE KILT.
'Se 'feile preasach tlachd mo ruin,
"S osan nach ruig faisg an gltin,
'S cota breac nam basan dlti,
'S bonaid dhti-ghorm thogarrach.
IN the previous chapter we have given a description of Clan
Tartans, proving conclusively that they were worn in the High-
lands at a very remote period, and also that they were arranged
into distinctive clan patterns, as we now have them. We will
now proceed to give an account of the different forms in which
the dress was worn, and as in most other matters referring to the
Highlands the dress has been subjected to a great amount of
ignorant criticism. We will at same time place before our readers
indubitable evidence of the great age and authenticity of the
dress.
The sculptured stones of Scotland give clear and decided
evidence of the great antiquity of the dress, and their period
may be said to extend from the sixth to the ninth century.
There is one at Dupplin, in Perthshire; Forres, in Morayshire;
and Nigg, in Ross-shire, each representing figures in the High-
land dress.
R
246 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
Some years ago, a sculptured stone was dug up from the
ruins of the Roman wall (which was constructed in the year
140), representing three figures dressed exactly in the ancient
garb of the Gael. There is also a sculptured slab in the Anti-
quarian Museum, Edinburgh, which was found at Dull, in Perth-
shire, some years ago, which represents several figures in the
Highland dress.
In Kilmuir, Skye, there is a rock bearing a natural repre-
sentation of the dress. It is called " Creag an Fheilidh," or the
rock of the kilt, from its marked resemblance to the checkered
plaits of the kilt. This name must be coeval with the arrival of
the Gael in Skye, for, bearing a natural representation, it could
not get the name from any event or accident.
In the Norwegian Sagas, in reference to the expedition of
King Magnus to the Western Isles, in the year 1093, ft *s said
that he adopted the costumes in use in the western lands, and like-
wise many of his followers ; and for this he was called Magnus
Barefoot. The seal of Alexander I., whose reign began in the
year 1 107, represents that monarch in the feileadh-beag, or kilt as
now worn. King David L, who began his reign in the year 1 1 24,
and Malcolm IV. in 1153, used a seal identical with that used by
Alexander L; and their adopting it proves that they wore the
dress represented.
The dress was anciently of various forms, to suit the re-
quirements of the wearer. The "triubhais" or truis, were made of
tartan, cut crossways, and worn tight to the skin, after the style
of breeches, and fastened at the knee with a buckle. It required
considerable skill to make a pair of truis, as the tartan had to be
matched at the seams so as to show the pattern. The sets were
generally smaller in the tartan than that used for plaids.
The " breacan-feile," or belted plaid, was made of twelve ells
of tartan, i.et six ells of double tartan, which, being plaited, was
fastened round the body with a belt, the lower part forming the
kilt, and the other half being fixed to the shoulder by a brooch,
hung down behind, and thus formed the plaid, in the same shape
as the belted plaids now used by the military, which is an imita-
tion of it.
There was great neatness displayed in arranging the plaits,
so as to show the set of the tartan. This was a particularly con-
THE HIGHLAND DRESS. 247
venient form of the dress, as the plaid hung loosely behind ; it did
not encumber the arms, and in wet weather could be thrown over
the shoulders ; while in the event of camping out at night, it could
be thrown loose, and covered the whole body. It was principally
worn on warlike expeditions, or when going any distance from
home. It was called the belted plaid from the fact of its being
simply made of a piece of tartan, unsewn, and fixed round the
body with a belt.
The " feileadh-beag," or little kilt, same as still worn, was
made of six ells of single tartan, which, being plaited and sewn,
was fixed round the waist with a strap, half a yard being left
plain at each end, which crossed each other in front This is one
of the parts of the dress for which a modern invention is claimed.
This claim, which first saw the light of day in the form of
an anonymous letter in the Scots Magazine, in 1798, though
echoed by several writers who took upon themselves to write on
the Highlands, has never been admitted by any one who can be
taken as an authority. The date of the pretended invention of
the kilt is 1728. It is said that in that year Parkinson, the
superintendent of the Lead Mines at Tyndrum, finding his High-
land labourers encumbered with their belted plaids, taught them
to separate the plaid from the kilt, and sew it in its present form.
To any one acquainted with the manners and customs of
the Highlanders this must seem a very ridiculous and unlikely
story, but, nevertheless, it has been accepted by many writers,
none of whom, however, can give any proof for their assertion
further than this anonymous scribbler, and it is surprising, after all
the research of our learned antiquarians, to find even the editor*
of the latest edition of the " History of the Highland Clans "
re-echoing such a silly fable.
Next to Ossian's poems there is no subject connected with
the Highlands that has caused more discussion or ill-feeling than
the reputed invention of the kilt. There is not a national move-
ment in which the Highlanders are specially mentioned, but this
fable is "trotted" out by jealous and acrimonious writers to
smother our national pride.
It is unfortunate that the ancient Highlanders left so much
*John S. Keltic, F.S.A.
248 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
of their history, customs, and manners to be recorded by others,
who, from the remote and inaccessible nature of the country and
their ignorance of the language, could not be expected to do
them justice, and as in everything else, ancient writers on the
Highlands are very obscure in their descriptions of the dress,
and while they give a sort of an idea of the " breacan-feile," or
belted plaid, as being the most complicated and attractive part
of the dress, they pay little attention to the " feileadh-beag."
Martin, in his " Tour to the Western Isles," published in
1702, gives a very good account of it. He says — "The plaid
is tied round the middle with a leather belt. It is plaited from
the waste to the knee very nicely. This dress for footmen is found
much easier and lighter than breeches or trowis." He also gives
a description of the " breacan-guaille," or shoulder plaid, which
was only worn with the "feileadh-beag" or kilt. He says — " The
length of it is commonly seven double ells. The one end hangs
by the middle over the left arm ; the other, going round the
body, hangs by the end over the left arm also. The right hand
is to be at liberty to do anything upon occasion."
Martin visited St Kilda in 1697, and says — "The men at
this day wear a short doublet to their waste ; about that (i.e.y the
waist) a double plat of plad, both ends joined together by the
bone of a fulmar. The plad reaches no further than the knee,
and is above the haunches girt about with a belt of leather."
This is a most minute description of the " feileadh-beag," and
should be sufficient in itself to put the matter beyond the possi-
bility of a doubt, but we can bring forward even much stronger
evidence than this. On the armorial bearings of the Burnets of
Leys in Aberdeenshire, the dexter supporter is a " Highlander in
hunting garb," viz. — Feileadh-beag, and short Highland jacket,
exactly the same as worn at the present day; date of patent, 2ist
April 1626. Sir George Mackenzie, who died 37 years before
Parkinson's time, says — " The Burnets of Leys carry a High-
lander in Hunting garb, and a greyhound as supporter on
their arms, to show that they were the King's foresters in the
north."
The Mackenzies of Coul, in Ross-shire, have, as dexter sup-
porter on their arms, a Highlander dressed in the kilt and shoulder
plaid, same as worn at the present day; date of patent, i6th Oct.
THE HIGHLAND DRESS. 249
1673. The clans Macrae and Macgillivray have also as supporters
Highlanders dressed in \hzfeileadh-beag.
In a book printed in London in 1720, "The Life of Mr
Duncan Campbell," there is a drawing representing the subject
of the work, dressed in an unmistakable feileadh-beag or kilt,
with the following note referring to it. " Our young boy, now
between six and seven, delighted in wearing a little bonnet and
plaid, thinking it looked very manly in his countrymen. His
father indulged him in that dress, which is truly antique and
heroic." This is the nicest representation of the dress we have
seen, the kilt, bonnet, hose, and everything so clear and distinct
that it would pass muster at the present day.
In "Burt's Letters from the North of Scotland, 1728," also
published in London, there are several plates showing the different
forms of the dress, viz. — Breacan an fheilidh, or belted plaid;
feileadtibeag) or kilt, with shoulder plaid, as now worn ; and
triubhaiS) or truis. He makes no mention of Parkinson, and he
certainly would have done so if there was any truth in the story.
The feileadh-beag (philabeg) is often mentioned in Jacobite
songs composed at the time of the rising of 1715. The kilt and
plaid is also mentioned in a very old Gaelic song, Macgriogair o
RiiadJi-Shnith. Besides all this, we have it on the testimony of
Blind Harry that the great Scottish patriot Wallace wore the
kilt. He tells us that when Wallace was in school in Dundee he
was insulted and assaulted by the son of Selbye, the governor ;
and he points out most distinctly that he not only wore the High-
land dress, which he calls " Ersche Mantill," but tells that " it war
thi kynd to wer," showing most conclusively that Wallace was
considered to be a Highlander, and that the tartan was his na-
tional dress.
We now hold that we have completely settled this ques-
tion, and, in the face of such a chain of evidence, it is amus-
ing to think that such a silly assertion should ever have been
made. It betrays very great ignorance of the customs and manners
of the Highlanders to suppose that, if they were sufficiently in-
genious to design the tartan, and to plait it into the form of the
belted-plaid, which is a very intricate contrivance, that they
should not think of dividing the kilt and plaid, when occasion
required it, without the assistance of an Englishman. The thing
250 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
is so positively absurd that we cannot conceive how any sensible
person should repeat it.
We will now proceed to give a description of the various
articles which compose the dress.
The doublet or coat (in Gaelic, cota-gearr] was sometimes
made of tartan cloth, cut crossways, the size of the checks being
less than in the kilt or plaid. This style of coat was called cota
fiaraidh.
For every-day wear the coats were generally made of a drab
cloth. This colour was produced by a mixture of natural black
and white, with a quantity of crotal-dyed wool. This was called
cota lackdunn. For full or court dress, the- coats were made of
velvet, and richly embroidered with silver lace and buttons. We
have proof of velvet being used for coats at an early age. In the
accounts of the Lord High Treasurer of Scotland, in August
1538, we find the following entry regarding a Highland dress for
King James V.:—
" Item in the first for ij elnis ane quarter cine of variant colorit velvet to be the
Kingis Grace, ane schort Heland coit. Price of the elne vi. lib- Summa xiij. lib. xs.
" Item for iii. elnis quarter elne greene taffatys to lyne the said coit with price
of the elne x »• summa xxxij s- viA"
Hose.— Before the invention of knitting, the hose were
made of tartan, the same as in the kilt. They were also made
crossways, and required a great amount of ingenuity to match the
checks. After knitting was invented, they were made of differ-
ent patterns, and very great perfection was acquired in imitating
the various checks of the tartan.
Shoes. — Martin says — "The shoes antiently wore were a
piece of the Hide of a Deer, Cow, or Horse, with the hair on,
being tied behind and before with a point of leather." This is
the cuaran. It was much in the style of the sandals worn by
Eastern nations. It is this that gave rise to the term, " Rough-
footed Scots." " Feumaidh fear nan cuaran eiridh uair roimh
fhear nam br6g." Martin says again — "The generality now wear
shoes, having one thin Sole only, and shaped after the right and
left Foot, so that what is for one Foot will not serve the other."
The shoes were usually peaked at the point. The uppers were
of one piece, and sewn to the soles, and then turned inside out.
They were open up the front, and drawn together with thongs.
These shoes were called brogan tionndaidh.
THE HIGHLAND DRESS. 251
I think it was a Lochcarron bard who said —
'S math thig osan air do chalp
Brog bhiorach dhubh 's lughach lorg.
Shoe buckles are a modern addition to the dress, and I do
not think they are any improvement.
Donnachadh Ban says —
Fhuair sinn ad agus cle6c
'S cha bhuineadh an seors' ud dhuinn
Bucail a' dunadh ar br6ig
'Se 'm barr-iall bu bh6iche leinn.
The sporrans were made of the skins of wild animals — badger,
otter, wild cat, or goatskin. The latter were often ornamented
with silver mountings, but they were neither so large nor so gaudy
as those now worn.
The bonnet was of different shapes in different districts, but
the broad form, such as is now styled " Prince Charlie," is the most
ancient.
The dress was capable of being very richly ornamented.
The plaid was fastened at the shoulder by a brooch of silver,
often studded with precious stones, and embellished with devices
of thistles, animals, etc. There was also a brooch worn in the
bonnet, with the wearer's crest and motto engraved on it. In the
bonnet was also the badge or Suaicheantas of the clan and usually
one or more eagle's feathers, according to the rank of the wearer.
A chief wore three, a chieftain two, a duine-uasal or gentleman
one.
John Taylor, the Water Poet, made an excursion to Scot-
land in the year 1618, of which he published an account, under
the title of the " Pennylesse Pilgrimage," and in which there is
an amusing description of the Highland dress. He says, " Their
habit is . shoose with but one sole apiece, stockings which they
call hose, made of a warm stuffe of divers colours, which they
call tartan. As for breeches, many of them nor their forefathers
never wore any, but, a jerkin of the same stuff as their hose is
made, with a plaed about their shoulders, which is a mantle of
divers colours, much finer and lighter stuffe than the hose, with
blue flat caps on their heads, a handkerchief knit with two
knots about ther necks, and thus they are atyred."
(To be continued.)
252 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE:.
CURIOUS SUPERSTITIONS IN TIREE.
By J. SANDS.
ALTHOUGH the inhabitants of Tiree are in general an intelligent,
as well as kind-hearted, race, who would progress if they had an
opportunity, some superstitions, which have descended from a
very remote period, still linger amongst them. Customs which
originated when the sun was an object of worship survive to this
day, although the Gospel has been preached in the island since
the year 565, when Baithean (a cousin of Columba's) landed at
Soraby, and founded a monastery there. Marriage parties still
take care to turn to the right hand (Deasail), and not to the left,
when they enter the church. The same rule is observed when a
body is to be laid in the grave. When boats are launched from
the shore the bow is brought round (although it may be a little
inconvenient) agreeably to the apparent course of the sun. Nine
was a sacred number with the ancient Scandinavians, as well as
Celts, and this part of the Pagan creed is still respected. Water
taken from the tops of nine waves, and in which nine stones have
been boiled, is believed to be an infallible cure for the jaundice.
The shirt of the patient, after being dipped in this magic infusion,
is put on wet. I was acquainted with a man on whom this
remedy was recently tried, but without effect, as he was on the
brink of death, and whisky had been ordered from Glasgow to
regale the mourners at his funeral. As intoxicants are not pro-
curable on the island (the Duke of Argyll having abolished all
the public-houses) provident relatives are obliged to send for a
supply to Glasgow when a death is anticipated. Water taken
from nine springs or streams in which cresses grow, is also, when
applied in the same way, believed to be an effectual cure for
jaundice. On the west side of the island there is a rock with a
hole in it, through which children are passed when suffering from
whooping cough, or other complaints.
Sick cattle were, and probably still are, treated in a curious
way. The doctor being provided with a cogue of cream and an
oatcake, sits on the sick cow, or other animal, and repeats the
CURIOUS SUPERSTITIONS IN TIREE. *$$
following verse, nine times nine times, taking a bit and a sip be-
tween each repetition : —
" Greim is glug, mise air do mhuin,
Ma bhitheas thu beo 's maith ;
'S mar a bi leigear dhuit."*
The cream and the bannock are the doctor's fee.
When a gun is fired at a wedding, care is taken that the
shots shall be odd numbers. Three is safe, five and nine are also
considered lucky.
About five years ago a woman left her child upon the shore
that it might be taken away by the fairies, and her own infant
restored. She was obliged, however, to take back the changeling
after it had been exposed for some hours, as the daoine beaga
never appeared. At this date a minister on the island has
refused to baptize the children of a parishioner, because he swears
that a woman has bewitched his cows, and abstracted the virtue
from their milk.
Some houses are believed to be haunted by fairies, although
it is only certain gifted individuals who can see them. In one
cabin they were wont to sit in swarms upon the rafters, and had
the impudence even to drop down now and again, and seize a
potato out of the pot. Eventually they became such a nuisance
that the tenant of the house (who was a taishear) determined to
build a new dwelling and to abandon the old one. Unfortun-
ately, when the new cabin was almost finished, he (materials
being scarce) took a stone out of the haunted hut, with the result
that all the fairies came along with it, so that his new home was
as much infested as the old one had been.
At Mannal there is a little green hillock (which had proba-
bly been used to rest the coffin on, as it was being carried to the
grave), but which was believed to possess magical properties. Not
long ago, a stone lay upon the top, and fishermen were in the
habit of turning the end of it towards any part of the horizon
that they wished a breeze to come from. There is a story told
about this hillock, which may be as well repeated in rhyme as in
prose : —
* This old rhyme was given to me by Mr John Maclean, the Tiree Bard, who has
written some songs which are very popular in the island.
254 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
At Mannal, in Tiree, may still be seen
A cttoc gorm, or hillock, round and green,
Such as the fairies lived in long ago
(A tale that may be true for all we know),*
And to this cnoc two men one day there came,
A sire and son — Macdonald was their name —
To fetch a stone that through the turf appeared,
And build it in a cottage they had reared ;
But when the stone that lay upon the top
The son had carried off it would not stop,
But to the cnoc came floating through the air,
And lay down in its old position there ;
A second time he tried, but all in vain,
The stone rose up, and hurried home again ;
A third determined trial he made, but still
The stone returned to the fairy hill ;
And at the same self moment, strange to tell,
The stubborn youth turned fearfully unwell.
His muscles took the cramp, and lumps like eggs
Arose upon his arms, as well as legs,
He fell upon the ground in pain and fright,
And cursed and howled for help with all his might,
Nor did he quite recover from the shock
Until the stone was buried in the cnoc.
I wish that every ancient kirk and fort
And cnoc were built with stones of that same sort,
And that the wretch might suffer sharper pains
Who would destroy such valuable remains.
On a beautiful evening last autumn, when digging for relics
amongst the rubbish that had been thrown from a pre-historic
dun, or hill-fort, I happened to raise my head above the surface,
and seeing a man passing with a fishing rod on his shoulder,
asked him, by way of salutation, " Are you going to fish ?" This
was an extremely unlucky question, probably aggravated by the
grave-like quarter from whence it came, and the man, without
answering a word, turned about and trudged home again. I
have heard of a woman (who ought to have known better) putting
the same question to her husband, who, on the instant, in his
anger and vexation, smashed his fishing-rod on the ground.
But the glorious sun of education now shines in Tiree as
elsewhere, and the fogs of superstition will, in the course of another
* Mr J. F. Campbell, in his Highland Tales, expresses the opinion that fairies
had a real existence- that they were a small race of human beings, who inhabited
these islands in distant prc-historic times.
THE BRAES CROFTERS. 255
generation, have vanished before it. There are already four
Board Schools in the island, and there would be a fifth, were it
not that the Ladies' Association, in connection with the Free
Church, support a wretched seminary at Ballamartin, which affords
the Board an excuse for neglecting its duty and getting a proper
schoolhouse erected and permanent teacher appointed ; but I
believe the ladies have begun to see the mischief they are doing,
and are to hand over their school to the Board without delay.
The newspapers are withal beginning to circulate in the island,
and the proceedings of the rebellious crofters in Skye are watched
with special interest.
MR MALCOLM MACKENZIE AND THE BRAES
CROFTERS.
THE reader will recollect that a few months ago Mr Malcolm
Mackenzie, Guernsey, generously offered, through the Editor
of the Celtic Magazine, to pay two years' arrears of rent
for the Braes Crofters on condition that the proceedings
raised against them in the Court of Session by Lord Mac-
donald should be at once stopped. This offer was not
accepted by his lordship, and, therefore, Mr Mackenzie was
not under any further obligation — legal or moral — in the
matter. He has, however, generously chosen to make the
people a donation of £100, to indicate his opinion of the manner
in which they had been treated last year by the proprietor, and
the hardship and inconvenience which they had in consequence
endured. He decided to pay a whole year's rent of Ben Lee, so
that the people might have time to stock it before it became a
burden on them by the payment of rent. The consequence of
this liberal act is, that the rent being . an after-hand one, the
crofters will possess Ben Lee for two years before they will have
to pay any rent for it themselves, a most decided and substantial
advantage to the poor people, after the petty persecution which
they had to endure at the hands of their proprietor, and present
representative of the great Macdonald chiefs. We take the
256 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
following account of the Editor's recent visit to the Braes from
the Free Press of Saturday, the 24th of February last :—
VISIT OF DEAN OF GUILD MACKENZIE.
Dean of Guild Mackenzie, Inverness, who had been to the Braes of Portree this
week as the representative of Mr Malcolm Mackenzie, of Guernsey, returned home last
night. The Dean's visit and its character having become known in the Braes, the
people gathered in large numbers to welcome him. On Thursday morning several of
them came towards Portree to meet him, and by the time he was at Gedintaillear, the
nearest township, he was in the midst of a large and jubilant crowd. In the course
of his interview with the people, he explained that he was there as the agent of Mr
Mackenzie, the gentleman who had offered to pay all their arrears if the proceedings
against them were stopped ; but Lord Macdonald having refused that offer, there was
no further claim on Mr Mackenzie. The Dean explained, however, that Mr Mac-
kenzie strongly sympathised with the people in the position in which they were
placed, and he was desirous of giving them help. He was to pay the first year's rent
of Ben Lee, £74. 155., and he (the Dean) had purchased a ton of first-class meal from
Mr John Macdonald, Exchange, Inverness, which, along with certain sums of money,
he was about to distribute among the more necessitous crofters. The Dean then went
through the three townships for the purpose of ascertaining the condition of the
people, particularly of the widow tenants, with the view of being enabled to distribute
the meal and money among the most necessitous. Having satisfied himself as to their
condition, he wrote out orders in favour of twenty-eight different persons, and made
arrangements with a Portree gentleman who has taken a friendly interest in the people
to give the meal to the parties presenting these orders. No one got less than half a
boll, and many got a boll each. The widow tenants got most of the meal and nearly all
the cash distributed, as, for want of stock to place on Ben Lee, they cannot get the full
benefit of their share of the rent paid for it, and matters are thus fairly balanced.
The people expressed their gratitude to Mr Malcolm Mackenzie and the Dean in the
strongest terms, and hoped that both would long be spared to benefit their fellow-
countrymen. They expressed their regret that, in an unguarded moment, they
had authorised a reverend gentleman from Inverness (on that gentleman's own sugges-
tion) to communicate with Mr Malcolm Mackenzie on their behalf. The Dean, on
returning to Portree, called on Mr Alexander Macdonald, Lord Macdonald's
factor, and offered him the Ben Lee rent. Mr Macdonald required a written offer.
This the Dean formally gave, stating that, on behalf of Mr Malcolm Mackenzie,
he tendered the sum of £74. 155., being the rent of Ben Lee due by the
Braes crofters at Martinmas 1883. This being a payment in advance, Mr Mac-
kenzie conditioned a deduction of 5 per cent., with the view of distributing it
among the crofters. The factor could not then give a definite answer, but he stated
that an official reply would be sent in due time. The Dean then told Mr Macdonald
that he had anticipated there might be some difficulty in their accepting the rent
st now, and as he was determined to be relieved of the money, he had arranged
with the people that morning to deposit the money in bank in the joint names of the
ctor and a crofter from each township (whom the people, at his request, had chosen).
3ean thereupon proceeded to the Caledonian Bank, Portree, and there deposited
the sum of £74. ,SSi> payable to the order of Neil Buchanan, Peinchorrain ; Alex-
Fmlayson, Balmeanach (one of those convicted of assaulting Martin) ; William
ion, Gedintaillear ; and Alexander Macdonald, as factor for Lord Macdonald ; it
THE BRAES CROFTERS. 257
being expressly declared in the receipt that the money was for the purpose of paying
the rent of Ben Lee, and for no other purpose. He at the same time instructed the
bank-agent to intimate this deposit to these four gentlemen. The sum distributed by
Mr Mackenzie in meal and money amounted to the value of £100.
It appears that some of the poorer Braes crofters have not yet been able to pay
their arrears, and to a number of such persons a circular in the following terms has
just been sent : —
"Macdonald Estate Office, Portree, ipth February 1883.
"Dear Sir, —I regret to observe that your part of the proposed agreement with
Lord Macdonald about your becoming tenant of Ben Lee, in addition to your present
holding, has not been fulfilled. I am much disappointed and surprised that this is the
case after all that passed on the subject. I shall be ready to receive your rents here
during the next three weeks. I regret being under the necessity of reminding you that,
unless you pay your rents, you cannot hold your lands. I trust, however, you will be
able to make payment, which will be more satisfactory to all concerned.
"Your obedient servant,
"ALEXANDER MACDONALD,
" Factor for Lord Macdonald."
The Crofters, it is said, complain bitterly that they are now under threat of
eviction, while if the generous offer of Mr Malcolm Mackenzie had been accepted,
Lord Macdonald would have had his arrears in full, and they would be for the present
quite independent.
[In connection with the foregoing, the Rev. James Reid, Free Church Minister of
Portree, addressed a letter to the Daily Mail of 2nd March, and other newspapers,
from which we quote the following : — " Sometime ago the Braes crofters' dispute about
Ben Lee was amicably settled. The people got back the hill at an annual rent of ^74
155. At a comparatively early stage of the contest Mr Mackenzie, Guernsey, appeared
as the generous friend of the crofters and a lover of peace and goodwill between
proprietors and their tenants, and offered to pay all past arrears of rent for the crofters,
on condition that all legal proceedings against them should then cease. This generous
offer was not accepted. Mr Mackenzie's sympathy was not, however, alienated from the
people, nor his interest in their welfare at all diminished. In proof of this, Mr Mackenzie,
of the Celtic Magazine, a true friend of the Highlanders, visited the Braes on Thursday
last, and had the pleasure of arranging for the distribution of a ton of meal and some
money among the widows and the more necessitous of the crofters, and of depositing
in the Caledonian Bank, Portree, a full year's rent of Ben Lee (£74. 155.) in advance;
and all the generous outcome of the sympathy of Mr Mackenzie, Guernsey. To that
gentleman the crofters feel deeply indebted for all his genuine interest in them, and
they deputed me to offer him, through the press, their most grateful thanks, which I
hereby do with very great pleasure indeed."]
OFFICE-BEARERS OF THE GAELIC SOCIETY OF INVERNESS.—
At the Annual Meeting for the election of Office-bearers of the Gaelic Society for 1883,
the following were duly elected by ballot :— Chief, The Earl of Dunmore ; Senior
Chieftain, Alex. Mackenzie, F.S.A. Scot., editor of the Celtic Magazine; second do. ,
John Macdonald, merchant, Exchange ; third do., Alex. Macbain, M.A., Raining's
School. Hon. Secretary, William Mackay, solicitor. Secretary, William Mackenzie,
Free Press Office. Treasurer, Duncan Mackintosh, Bank of Scotland. Members
of Council — Colin Chisholm, Namur Cottage ; Charles Mackay, contractor ; G. J.
Campbell, solicitor ; John Whyte, Porterfield House ; A. R. Macraild, writer.
Librarian, John Whyte ; Bard, Mrs Mary Mackellar ; Piper, Pipe-Major Maclennan.
258 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
ARCHBISHOP TAIT IN RANNOCH.
IN the autumn of 1863, and again in that of 1865, the late Arch-
bishop of Canterbury, then Bishop of London, and Mrs Tait,
visited Rannoch for the ben'efit of their health. All the people
in the district, high and low, resident and visitor, were charmed
with the urbanity, homeliness, and truly Christian bearing of the
distinguished pair ; and although the visits they paid were short,
the impression made by them on the people of Rannoch are still
very vivid, and are not likely soon to fade away.
The Episcopal party put up at the only inn then in Kinloch-
Rannoch ; and there is a story told, seemingly on good authority,
which well illustrates the pious and simple habits of the departed
prelate. One day Mrs Tait brought the landlady to the Bishop's
room to order dinner. When they entered, his lordship was en-
gaged in reading the Bible. " What shall we have for dinner to-
day ?" asked his wife in her usual winning way. He raised his
head, turned round, put his hands down, one on each knee, and
looking so benevolently, said, " My dear, why are you so solicit-
ous about what we shall have for dinner ? I am sure our hostess
will do her best to serve us ; and we will be content \vith what-
ever she has to give."
At the instigation of a young lady whose aged husband then
had the shootings of Craganour, somebody asked his lordship if
he would hold a service in the schoolhouse of Kinloch on the fol-
lowing Sunday. He replied, " I have come to Rannoch not for
preaching, but for the benefit of my health ; but I shall consult
my better-half about the matter." The result of this consultation
was that intimation was sent through Rannoch that the Lord
Bishop of London was to have morning service in the school-
house of Kinloch-Rannoch on the following Sunday; and this
notice drew a good audience.
On the Sunday morning before service there was some diffi-
culty as to how and where the Bishop was to get his surplice put
on. The schoolmaster was away at his holidays, his dwelling-
ARCHBISHOP TAIT IN RANNOCH. 259
house was locked up, and to walk up from the inn dressed in full
canonicals was out of the question. A little, handy, facetious
carpenter who then lived, and wrought at his trade, in the village,
and who, on account of his having been across the Atlantic, was
called " American John," came to the rescue. On being intro-
duced as the most suitable " beadle " in the place, John, when the
difficulty was broached to him, said, " Well, would your lordship
like I should treat you as I should have done were we in the
backwoods of America?" " Nothing would please me better,"
replied his lordship. So John, undertaking the business, led the
Bishop into the schoolmaster's peat-house, there put on his surplice,
etc., for him, and then remarked with great glee, " England and
Scotland are united here to-day !"
The Bishop entered the school-house, and having read the
morning service of the Church of England, preached with much
acceptance from ist Corinthians, I. 23-24 verses — "But we preach
Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling-block, and unto the
Greeks foolishness ; but unto them which are called, both Jews
and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God."
The same day, by a curious coincidence, the Bishop of St
Andrews drove up from Tummel-Bridge, and held an evening
service in the school-room. The Anglican Bishop and Mrs Tait
attended. And it was remarked by good judges, that, although a
learned and accomplished man, Dr Wordsworth appeared very
shaky when preaching in the presence of the Bishop of London !
When all the services of the day were over, the Bishop re-
marked to Mrs Tait: "The little man that attended me to-day in
the peat-house has real Scotch humour in him ; and I should like
so much if he would go along with us to-morrow to Schiehallion."
. " By all means," said Mrs Tait, " and I will arrange about bring-
ing him."
On Monday morning at ten o'clock, the following party
started for Schiehallion, the Lord Bishop of London, and Mrs
Tait, one on each side of " American John " teasing him, and
Donald Kennedy, the police constable of the district in plain
clothes walking behind them. As they walked along, peal of
laughter followed peal from the joyous company. The Bishop
evidently understood the true philosophy of life and well-being.
With him there was a time for hard study, and a time for gravity
26o THE CELTIC MAGAZINE
and devotion ; and also a time for recreation and hilarious merri-
ment.
Having reached Wester Tempar, they struck south from the
county road, and were soon climbing Schiehallion. This moun-
tain, steep, conical, bare and picturesque, rises to the height of
over 3500 feet above sea-level, and 2800 feet above the level of
Loch-Rannoch ; and it is famed among men of science over the
whole world, as the mountain selected by Maskelyne for making
observations by the pendulum, or for determining the weight of
the earth. The remarkably regular shape of the mountain,
approximating in its main body to that of the earth, together with
the homogeneous structure of the rock of which it is mainly com-
posed, made him fix on Schiehallion, as, on the whole, the
subject best adapted for making such experiments on ; and this
has invested what had always been the most unique and char-
acteristic feature in the scenery of Rannoch with an interest
peculiar to itself.
The Bishop had not proceeded very far in his ascent of the
mountain when, to use John's expressive words, "he began to
blow and pech, and say it was hard work." At length, coming to
a green level spot, he stood and looked back. " John," said he,
" I don't wonder although you Highlanders love your country.
What a glorious sight of lake, imbosomed in green trees and herb-
age, and beautiful mountains near and far, and that fine river
coming winding down the strath glittering in the sun like a long
silver thread." " Yes, my lord," said John, " we love our country
dearly. I was in America, and I came home for the love I bore
to Rannoch." "Do all the poor people love Rannoch in the
same way?" asked Mrs Tait. " Yes they do, ma'am," said John,
" and if they could make a living at all they would not like to
leave the place." " By-the-bye, John," said the Bishop, " I've ob-
served a great many houses knocked down and in ruins here and
there throughout Rannoch: will you explain to me what is the
cause of that?" " Well," replied John, " I'm sure your lordship
can explain better than I can how rams' horns blew down the
walls of Jericho ; it was also rams' horns that blew down so many
walls in Rannoch." " Bravo! John," said the Bishop, " that's very
good! I shall never forget your illustration of the walls of
Jericho. But who is that nice young man you have taken along
ARCHBISHOP TAIT IN RANNOCH. 261
with you?" " Well, my lord," replied John, " Donald Kennedy is
his name, a nice well-behaved and intelligent lad, and worthy of
a better situation than being our police constable; and I hope
your lordship will do something for him." "Well, John," said
the Bishop, " I may do something for him for your own sake,
and specially as a small return for the lesson you have given me
in theology." " Take out your note-book then," said John, " and
mark down his name, so that you may not forget." The Bishop
laughed, and with great good nature did what he was told.
The party then proceeded to climb, and after many a halt,
and talk, and laugh, they at length reached the top of
Schiehallion. His lordship and Mrs Tait were overjoyed ; and
" American John" gave them the names of every peak and loch,
and lochlet and castle, to be seen all round from that com-
manding position. Thereafter they descended, and John was
amply rewarded for the information and amusement he had
afforded them; but curiously enough the Bishop gave nothing
to the police-constable.
The Bishop and Mrs Tait left Kinloch in the course of a
few days, and no more was heard of them for some time. At
the end of three weeks, however, " American John" got a letter to
say that the Bishop of London had secured a situation for Donald
Kennedy, worth £100 a-year, with immediate entry. Donald went
up to London, entered the situation, and continued to occupy it
with great comfort till his death, which occurred two years ago.
" American John " died about three years ago. He was
quite an original, and a general favourite in Rannoch. His great
British hero was the Archbishop of Canterbury, whom he placed
above everybody else, and whose conversations with himself he
delighted to recount to people frequenting his workshop. " The
Bishop of London is my preacher," he would say ; " Ah ! he's a
nice man. I told him so and so." " The Bishop of London, now
the Archbishop of Canterbury, said so and so to me, and he is a
pretty good authority!" Then he would turn to another sub-
ject, " This is how we used to do in the backwoods of America."
" Ha ! you know nothing : you were never out of Rannoch ; I
was in America, and know something." Peace be to John, and
to his hero the Archbishop !
JOHN SINCLAIR, Minister of Rannoch..
S
THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
THE SCOTSMAN, PROFESSOR BLACKIE, AND
THE HIGHLAND CROFTERS.
IN a recent issue of the Scotsman, Professor Blackie published
a letter, which we subjoin, setting forth his views on the present
agitation and disturbance among the crofters in Glendale, Isle
of Skye. This letter the Scotsman, as the special organ of the
Scottish Landocracy, could not conveniently swallow, and in
trying to dispose of it by a less dangerous process, it lost its
head. It has done more ; it has thrown away the semblance
of any ingenuousness and fair-dealing which innocent people
thought had yet remained to it.
Professor Blackie, speaking for himself and those who agreed
with him, wrote — " Our sympathies lie emphatically with the
law-breakers in this case ;" that is, with those who had broken
the law in Glendale ; for he says immediately after, in the same
paragraph of which the above quoted sentence forms a part —
"We know that this Glendale outbreak is a mere sympton of a
deeply-rdoted social disease for which the land oligarchy and
the Land Laws are answerable at the bar of eternal justice."
The Scotsman, with characteristic unscrupulousness when deal-
ing with an opponent, which no other publication in Scotland
has yet attained to, twists this plain statement into a charge
against Professor Blackie of sympathising "with law-breakers as
such."
The Professor further says, and says truly, " that there is no
tyranny in Europe — nor even in Asiatic Turkey — practically
more grinding than the tyranny which, under our present Land
Laws, the lord of the soil, with his commissioner, factor, and
ground-officer, may, in remote districts, exercise over the High-
land crofters." How does the Scotsman deal with this carefully-
qualified statement? " It is to be read," it says, " as stating that
this grinding tyranny is practised." It certainly should have
been both written and read to that effect as regards the conduct
during the present century of many of the class referred to.
Professor Blackie, however, does not go that length about any
SCOTSMAN AND HIGHLAND CROFTERS. 263
lords of the soil, commissioners, or factors, but the Scotsman
magniloquently declares, notwithstanding, that " it is a baseless
calumny to say or to hint that landlords and factors are, as a
whole, guilty of tyranny and oppression." The italics in these
quotations are ours.
Who ever said or hinted any such thing as is here placed
in Professor Blackie's mouth. Neither in his letter to the Scots-
man, nor anywhere else, did he ever say anything of the kind.
He has often, in our hearing, and to the knowledge of his unfair
and unscrupulous accuser, said the very reverse. No one has
written more warmly in favour of good landlords and considerate
factors than he has done, and many good specimens of both are,
happily, still to be found in the Highlands.
Enough has been said to show the nature of the attack so
violently made upon him, but we may fairly ask what right has
the Scotsman to assume to itself the position which it has done
on the Highland Crofter Question ? At any rate it is proper in
the circumstances that we give a few reasons why it should not be
for a moment listened to by any one who has the interest of the
native population of the Highlands at heart, for its conductors
show singular ignorance of the facts as to the position and in-
terests of the Crofters, and it has never failed to malign and mis-
represent them.
The Scotsman itself, conducted, as it is, under influences
foreign to Scotland and Scotchmen, naturally tries to encourage
proceedings in the Highlands, which would obliterate and destroy
all traces of Celtic nationality ; and, to accomplish this end, it
delights in fostering a system by which the southern sheep
farmer and the English sportsman monopolise the Highlands,
and drive the native population out of the country, caring not
whither they go.
While the paper in question has always proved itself the in-
veterate and uncompromising enemy of the Highland Crofters, this
anti-Celtic feeling has, if possible, become more intensified in
recent years.
In 1 878 -the Scotsman sent to the Highlands and Islands a
" Special Commissioner" to describe the condition of the crofters,
whose main purpose seems to have been, if we may judge by results,
to misrepresent and vilify them ; and he has taken little trouble,
264 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
before making his ignorant aspersions, to ascertain the facts. It is
capable of proof that he described the whole of North and South
Uist, Benbecula, and Barra — a district of country seventy to
eighty miles long from north to south, and containing a popula-
tion of 12,503 souls — without ever leaving the neighbourhood of
Lochmaddy. The same state of things can be proved in the
case of a wide district of the parish of Gairloch and other West
Coast estates. The public were led to believe all this time
that the " Special Commissioner " was giving the results of his
personal experience, and of his own investigation into the cir-
cumstances and surroundings of the people ! Were the con-
ductors of the paper cognisant of these facts ? We know that
letters pointing them out were refused insertion by the Editor.
In February last the Scotsman sent another " Special Com-
missioner" to the West, to give its readers an impartial (!) ac-
count of the disturbances in the Isle of Skye, especially in Glen-
dale. Those who knew anything about the subject at once saw,
when this Commissioner's letters appeared, that they were little
else than a badly-arranged hash made up from Sir John MacNeill's
Report, the New Statistical Account for the parishes of Bracadale
and Duirinish, and stale stories repeatedly told by the factor to
ourselves, among others, before the " Special Commissioner" of
the Scotsman ever visited the Isle of Skye. But this was not all !
While he was supposed by the misinformed portion of the public
to have derived his information from independent sources, he
was actually found to be the guest of the factor for Glendale,
from whose residence, at Edinbane, nearly thirty miles from
Glendale — the district supposed to have been described — his
letters were dated. Here the "Special Correspondent," sent
by the Scotsman to Skye when the "Jackal" paid her visit to
Glendale, actually found the "Special Commissioner" of his
journal, presumably much to his disgust and annoyance; for
the position of affairs had been discovered by the other repre-
sentatives of the Scottish and English press who visited Skye on
that occasion, and who, with many of the natives, naturally
chuckled and sneered at the supposed impartiality of the informa-
tion obtained and published by the Scotsman under such con-
ditions. It may be stated that the "Commissioner's" recall
soon followed the arrival of the " Special Correspondent" at head-
SCOTSMAN AND HIGHLAND CROFTERS. 265
quarters, and it may be fairly surmised that there was some con-
nection between the one event and the other. A few of the natives
are wicked enough to say that some fat sheep had almost simul-
taneously disappeared from the district, but what became of them
has not been clearly ascertained. It is, however, quite under-
stood that no one but the owner is in any way responsible for
their disappearance.
An exposure of the sources from which the Scotsman and a
few other newspapers receive their Skye local correspondence
might prove interesting, and we may yet feel called upon, in the.
interest of the people of Skye, to enlighten the reader on that
subject.
May we not meanwhile fairly ask, Is this a paper which the
Scottish people ought to accept as a safe guide on any question
affecting the Highlanders? Its very name has become a misnomer
in recent years, edited, as it is, by an English Catholic, under
whose guidance the once renowned and brilliant Scotsman
in spirit and objects, as well as in name, has become the violent
antagonist of institutions the most highly cherished and revered
by Scotsmen, and whose attacks upon these are only equalled by
its ridicule of the Catholic Church, religion, and creed. It is impos-
sible for any good Scotsman not to feel regret for the fall in
recent years of a paper in which we all felt a natural pride from
a position in which intellectual power and marked ability were
its distinguishing characteristics, to one of mere common-place,
in which it is principally distinguished by disingenuousness of
argument and personal scurrility.
The support by the Scotsman of any one, under its present
guidance, is the surest proof that he who secures it is no real friend
of the Highlanders.
The following is Professor Blackie's letter on the Skye
Crofters, referred to above, and published in the Scotsman of
Wednesday, the 28th of February last: —
9 DOUGLAS CRESCENT, EDINBURGH, Feb. 27.
Sir, — As your columns have always been open to the statement of adverse views,
and as your tone lately seems to run somewhat sweepingly against the opinions
entertained by myself and many members of the Liberal party who have most
practical acquaintance with the Highlands, I crave the liberty to state our
view of the Skye Crofters' case with all succinctness. Our sympathies lie
266 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
emphatically with the law-breakers in this case, and we are strongly of opinion
that the real guilt lies with the law-makers— that is, historically, the oligarchs
of the soil and the British public, who, after the abolition of the clan system
in 1746, made no recognition of the consuetudinary rights of the people in the
land, and who, from ignorance or apathy, have allowed laws to remain on the statute-
book the direct action of which, when not counteracted by kindly influences, is to over-
ride, overwhelm, and at last exterminate the best element of the local population. It
is a matter of the smallest consequence, in our view, whether the case for the crofters
in the present instance, be legally right or wrong. We know that this Glendale out-
break is a mere symptom of a deeply-seated social disease, for which the land oligarchy
and the Land Laws are answerable at the bar of eternal justice. We know, and
thousands can rise to testify to it, that there is no tyranny in Europe— nor even
in Asiatic Turkey — practically more grinding than the tyranny which, under
our present Land Laws, the lord of the soil, with his commissioner, factor, and
ground officer, may, in remote Highland districts, exercise over the Highland
crofters. With these convictions, we have no hesitation in saying that we regard
the Glendale crofters as martyrs rather than criminals — not because they are
legally in the right, or because it is in any case right to break the law, but
because the law is radically wrong, and by its very nature instigates a healthy human
conscience to the violation which it condemns. When the law is unjust, and the devil,
so to speak, sits as God's vicegerent on a local throne, it is nothing wonderful that
rebellion should break out, and that the rebels should in such cases be not seldom the
very select and elect of the land. Such rebels were the Milanese, who revolted against
the Austrian rule in Lombardy, and drew out their lives sorrowfully in the dark cells
of Moravian prisons. Such rebels were our gallant forefathers — the men who fell at
Rullion Green, Aird's Moss, and Bothwell Brig, and shed their blood to purchase for
us liberty to breathe on our own Scottish soil, and to read our own Bibles without
Anglican dictation. Whatever deeds of blood were perpetrated during the whole
seven-and-twenty years of Charles II. and his pig-headed successor were done with
the sanction of the law ; and on a smaller and less bloody field the extirpation of the
noble race of mountain peasantry that inhabited the once populous Highland glens
was done with the sanction of law. The law was always in favour of the men who had
the power ; never in favour of those whose natural weakness made them an easy prey
to the ambition, cupidity, or indifference of their superiors. The law could always be
used to enrich the few and to impoverish the many. Laws were made with solemn
show and executed with unsparing severity, to preserve the game, but never to pre-
serve the people. This is our view of the matter. Instead, therefore, of hastily
blaming these unfortunate people, let us go to the root of the evil, and not, like quack
doctors, treat a skin disease with external lotions and superficial appliances, when the
only cure lies in reforming the whole habit of social life, and sending a strong current
of fresh blood through the veins. Let us unite heart and hand for a radical reform of
all landlord-made law ! This is my programme ; and I am ready to stand by it, though
it should rain laws from the statute-book as thick as pike-staves upon the land. Land
Law reform is the only banner under which the Liberal party can hope to gain
glorious victories at the present hour ; and, if they should fail to see their opportunity,
and timidly take counsel from law cunningly confused with right, and from a political
economy which confounds well-being with wealth, the Tories may act more wisely.
They are not the worst landlords in the Highlands, to my knowledge ; and if God in
his providence should only send us a second Lord Beaconsfield there is no saying what
SCOTSMAN AND HIGHLAND CROFTERS. 26;
they might be educated to do. I subjoin a more succinct expression of these senti-
ments in verse : —
THE SKYE CROFTERS.
A loud voice blames the men who break the law ;
I rather blame who made the laws to break,
Who pressed the yoke so close upon the neck
Of the hard-driven beast, and rubbed the raw,
That in a fretful fit it kicked the board
And tossed the rider. Blame your want of skill,
Blind oligarchs, and your uneven will
To maim the peasant and to arm the lord.
Woe unto you, the grasping crew who join
Wide field to field, and house to house, that you
May live sole lords of earth, and rack and screw
The poor to trick forth Mammon's gilded shrine !
God is not mocked, whose bolt their head shall smite
Who stamp His name on Might and call it Right.
JOHN STUART BLACKIE.
THE PERTHSHIRE CONSTITUTIONAL.— This newspaper, so long and
so well conducted by Mr J. Watson Lyall, now better and more widely known as
proprietor and editor of Lyall's " Sportsman's Guide," has recently changed hands.
The paper, plant, and property have been purchased by Mr Thomas Hunter (the act-
ing editor of the paper for several years back) and by the commercial manager of the
publishing department, under whose joint management, we have no doubt, the Con-
stitutional will fully maintain its old reputation as a first-class county paper and
literary critic.
A HISTORY OF ROB ROY.— Mr A. H. Millar, F.S.A., Scot., of the
Dundee Advertiser, has just completed a history of Rob Roy, and it is to be issued
immediately. The Athenceum of Saturday, ijth February, says : — "That the author
has made use in it of many of the documents and letters in the collections of the Duke
of Argyll, the Duke of Montrose, the Duke of Athole, and Sir Robert Menzies.
Many mythical stories which have long been in circulation regarding Rob Roy have
been discarded, and the incidents in his career are for the first time placed in proper
chronological order. The part which he played in the Jacobite Rebellion in 1715 is
carefully explained. A fac-simile reproduction will be given of an unpublished plan
of the battle of Glenshiel, the use of which the Duke of Marlborough has granted."
Mr Millar is already well known in the literary world as the author of " Traditions
and Stories of Scottish Castles," and a "Life of Queen Mary." There is no subject
of more interest to Highlanders than the famous Rob Roy, of whom a really authentic
history has long been desiderated, and Mr Millar is well qualified and has had special
facilities to do him justice. The work is to be illustrated by Mr D. Small. The book
may be ordered from this office. Price, 35. 6d., by post, 35. Qd.
CELTIC MYTHOLOGY. — A series of papers on this interesting subject, by
Mr Alexander Macbain, M.A., will be commenced in our May issue,
268 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
%
HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
SIR, As a Cameron, interested in the history of my race,
perhaps you will permit me at this stage of your account of the
Clan to give you a few traditions that refer specially to this
period, of which you are writing.
These traditions are valuable, as each item in them is con-
firmed by the different histories of those stormy times. First,
however, let me correct two mistakes in your last issue. You
say at page 150 that Donald, son of Ewen Allanson, left two sons,
both of whom succeeded respectively to the estate of Lochiel,
after the death of , their grandfather. Now, instead of two sons,
Donald Mac Eo^hain left three sons, the youngest being Ian
Dubh, or, as he was commonly called, " Ian Dubh Dhruim-
na-Saille," his grandfather having given him -that place as a
" gabhail" or " gavel."
Though Ian Dubh did not succeed to the chiefship, yet he
is historically the most important of the three brothers, as his
son Allan became chief of the clan in his boyhood, and was the
progenitor of all the chiefs from that time to the present day.
The " Sliochd Ian Duibh" sept held Druim-na-Saille until
about thirty years ago, when Dr Ewen Cameron, who had served
in the East Indiaman " Earl of Balcarres" died suddenly in his
prime, leaving a widow — Miss Margaret Kennedy of Lianachan
—and an infant son, who immediately thereafter left the place. I
believe this son is still in life. My mother's great-grandfather,
Allan Cameron, or " Mac Ian Duibh," as he was called, occupied
this Ian Dubh's house in the '45, and at it Prince Charles gave
forth the counter proclamation offering ,£30,000 for the head of
King George. Over the ford in front of this old historic house
Prince Charles led his army across the River Fionna-lith. My
grandmother was born in this house, and when my grand-uncle, Dr
Donald Cameron, returned to Lochaber, having retired from the
Navy after the Peninsular War, he was. never called by the people
Dr Cameron. It was always "An Doctair Mac Ian Duibh" thus
HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS. 269
emphatically declaring him the representative of that sept. The
chief, of course, had an older patronymic, although in reality he
was, and is, the real " Mac Ian Duibh."
Again, you say that Donald, son of Ewen Allanson, was
the progenitor of the family of Earrachd ; whereas Ewen was
the name, as is proven by their patronymic of " Sliochd Eoghain
'ic Eoghain " unto this day, as his brother John of Kinlochiel's
descendants are known as " Sliochd Ian 'ic Eoghain."
These remarks, however, are only by the way — the subject
of this letter being emphatically —
TAILLEAR DUBH NA TUAIGHE 'CHUIR AN RUAIG
AIR MAC-AN-TOISICH.
EOGHAIN BEAG MAC DHO'ILL 'ic EOGHAIN succeeded his
grandfather as chief of the Clan Cameron. He never was married,
unless, indeed, he was handfasted according to the custom of the
time to the lady who was the mother of his son — his only child.
The lady was the daughter of Macdougall of Lome.
This happened when Ewen was very young, and the lady's
father concealed his resentment until Ewen was chief. He then,
on some plausible pretence, got him to visit him, when he im-
prisoned him in Inch - Connel Castle, in Eilean - na - Cloiche,
Lochow. He was slain there by one MacArthur, whilst his
clansmen, headed by his foster-father, Mac Jic Mhartinn of Letter-
finlay, were trying to effect his escape.
His son, " Donull Mac Eoghain Bhig," was in his father's
charge from his infancy, and was sent secretly to a tailor's wife,
in Blar-na'n-Cleireach, or Lundavra, to be nursed, from which
circumstance came the name of " An Taillear Dubh," by which
he was known all his life. We find him named Donald, prob-
ably for his grandfather, and tradition says that he was brought
up by Maclachlan of Coiruanan, hereditary standard-bearer to
Lochiel, who became his foster-father.
The boy grew up to be a brave and wise man, famous for his
powers of sarcasm and ready wit, but more so for the skill with
which he wielded his battle-axe, the great weapon of the warriors
of Lochaber. From this distinguishing qualification came his
sobriquet of " Taillear Dubh na Tuaighe," which has clung to
him through the ages.
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It is said that when John of Kinlochiel and Ewen of Earrachd
murdered their chief, "Donull Dubh Mac Dho'ill 'ic Eoghain," they
thought the chiefship and estate would fall into their own hands,
but in this they were sorely disappointed, for the widow of the
youngest of their three nephews gave birth to twin sons. The
eldest was, of course, at once proclaimed chief, whilst the
youngest, who was Tanaistear, fell heir to the "gavel" of Druim-na-
Saille, and became the ancestor of the Camerons of that branch.
Tradition says that the mother of these twin boys was a
Mackintosh, and that she hated the clan of her spouse with a
great hatred.
As the mother of young Lochiel she went to live in one of
the homes of the chief, "Eilean na'n Craobh," and it is there that
we find "Donald," or rather "Taillear Dubh na Tuaighe," first ap-
pearing prominently in tradition.
The " Taillear" hated the Mackintoshes, and nothing pleased
him better than to wield his axe against them on the battle-field.
He, in return, was hated by the Mackintoshes, especially by
Ian Dubh's widow, and by John of Kinlocheil, and Ewen of
Earrachd, the sons of the second wife of Ewen Allanson, Marjory
Mackintosh, said by some historians to be daughter of Lachlan
Badenoch, and not of Duncan Mackintosh, as is said in the
Memoirs of Sir Ewen Cameron of Lochiel, quoted by you on
this head.
On the first occasion in which the "Taillear Dubh" appears
in tradition as a hero he must have been a young man.
There had been a skirmish with the Mackintoshes, in which
many of them were slain. The " Taillear" was the person de-
puted to carry the tidings to the lady at " Eilean na'n Craobh,"
a task which many a brave man would shrink from, knowing the
strong nature and the Mackintosh proclivities of the lady. The
" Taillear" went fearlessly, and walked straightway into her pre-
sence, battle-axe in hand. The lady cried out sternly, " Thig a
nuas, a Thaillear, ach fag do thuagh shios" (Come in, tailor, but
leave your axe without), to which the young warrior responded,
" Far am bi mi fhein bi' mo thuagh" (Where I will be my
axe will be).
"Ciamar a chaidh an latha?" (How did the day go?) asked
the lady.
HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS. 271
"Oh!" cried the tailor, "gheibheadh tu bian cait air da
pheighinn agus rogha is tagha air plane " (You could get a cat's
skin for twopence, and pick and choice for a plack). On hearing
this, the lady in a rage threw the infant heir into the fire, and in
a moment the " tailor " lifted his battle-axe above her head, cry-
ing— " A bhean a rug an leanabh tog an leanabh " (Woman
who gave birth to the child, lift the child) which she instantane-
ously did.
There was then a council held among the clan as to what
was to be done with this unnatural mother, for it was not thought
safe to leave their young chief in the hands of one who had
proved so unworthy of her position.
They decided, therefore, to send the lady back to her own
people, as she had forfeited all right to be considered a member
of the Clan Cameron. The manner in which this resolution was
carried out was as follows : — She was placed on horseback with
her face to the animal's tail, and so driven within the boundary
line of the Mackintosh domains. She was accompanied by a
few Mackenzies who had come from Brahan Castle to assist the
Camerons in that day's battle.
The Mackenzies were afterwards rewarded by getting land
on the estate of Lochiel, and their descendants are in North
Ballachulish to this day. It would fill a book to tell of
the feuds between this alien race and " Sliochd a Ghamhna
Mhaoil Duinn," which was the patronymic of the Camerons of
Onich, who were descended from an illegitimate son of a Mac-
Sorlie of Glen-Nevis. The clan also resolved not to leave the
infant chief to the guardianship of his grand-uncles of Kinlochiel
and Earrachd. He was, therefore, sent to Mull, probably to the
widow of his uncle, Donald Dubh, who was a lady of the Duart
family. " Donull Mac Eoghain Bhig" or " Taillear Dubh na
Tuaighe " went meantime to reside with his grandmother, Lady
Grant of Grant, from which place he was in the course of time
called by a party of his clan, that he might protect them from
the oppression of Kinlochiel and Earrachd, who were acting in a
most autocratic manner towards them.
The " Taillear" became again their leader in battle, and it is
said that in every field in which he fought against the Mackin-
toshes he was victorious. So successful was he that the people
2;2 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
began to suspect that he had a fairy origin, and that a special
charm was upon him. He was not only famous for his use of
the "axe," but was fleet-footed as the mountain deer, which
stood him in good stead on one occasion. He was out hunting,
and accidentally fell into the hands of the Mackintoshes. They
were quite jubilant over his capture, and longing to see his blood
shed.
" Had I fallen into your hands like this what would you do
with me ?" asked the Mackintosh of his captive.
" I would at least give you a chance for your life, and if you
could get free I would let you," replied the " Taillear."
" Then I shall do so with you. You will not have to say you
outstrip the Mackintosh in generosity," exclaimed the chief.
He then formed his men into a ring, with the " Taillear" in the
centre, saying, " Men, present your arms, and if he rushes upon
you it will but make an end of him the quicker."
The " Taillear" began to wield his battle-axe, as if trying to
make an opening here and there, by which he could escape. He
threatened to break the circle at different points, and at length
his quick eye saw where the men were beginning to be off their
guard, and, making a sudden dash, he sprang from what seemed
the arms of death. He ran as fast as his fleet feet could carry
him, pursued by his enraged enemies, the foremost among them
being their chief. At last the " Taillear" came to a broad ditch
which he leaped lightly, and got safe across. The Mackintosh
leaped after him, but fell into the mire. The "Taillear Dubh"
raised his axe above his head, and said to the floundering chief,
" Dh'fhaodainn, ach cha dean mi." "I might, but I will not."
The Mackintosh, pleased with the generosity of his foe, waved
his men back from the pursuit, and the "Taillear" gave him his
hand and pulled him out of the ditch.
The place where this happened is not far from the banks of
the Caledonian Canal at Gairlochy. The spot where he made
the leap is to this day called " Leum an Taillear," and the ditch,
though now filled up, still bears the name of " Lochan Mhic-an-
Toisich."
Mucomer was the scene of his last battle with the Mack-
intoshes, and on the evening of that day he was seen climbing
the mountain side at Coilleros, where there runs a stream
HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS. 273
known as " Ault-gormshuil," called after the celebrated Lochaber
witch of that name. The " Taillear Dubh " was never seen in
Lochaber again. All sorts of surmises were made about his dis-
appearance. Some said he was murdered by command of the
young chief, Ailean Maclan Duibh, who had now returned
home. The enemies of the "Taillear Dubh" had made the young
lad believe that he wanted to be chief himself; that he was
stealing the hearts of the people with that intention ; and that he
asserted his being the child of a lawful marriage, and therefore
not illegitimate. It is said that the chief believed these tales, and
consented to the death of his relative. When he, therefore, dis-
appeared, there was great indignation among his friends, who be-
lieved him to have been murdered.
Those who believed in his fairy origin thought now that he
had gone back to his people, having fulfilled the work given to
him to do. Others said that, being tired of fighting, he had retired
to some Monastery, and that he was seen in the district of Cowal.
So great a favourite was this brave and unselfish man among
his people, that their indignation waxed so hot against their chief
as to make him again leave the country. The clan believed that
he had consented to the murder of their hero ; therefore, he did
not feel safe among them, and he retired to Appin until their
fury would abate.
Now comes a page of this history that proves truth to
be stranger than fiction. After the fate of this brave man had
been enveloped in darkness for centuries it is now accounted for,
and made clear; and it is proved that the "Taillear Dubh" did
seek safety in Cowal, where he married and left a family, and we
find at the present day one of his descendants in the Reverend
Dr Taylor, Professor of Church History in the Edinburgh Uni-
versity. The name of Taylor evidently came from " Cloinn an
Taillear " — " The Children of the Tailor " — referring of course to
the sobriquet of " Donull Mac Eoghain Bhig."
Without knowing that any tradition existed in Lochaber
about their ancestor, the Taylors of Stratheachaig knew that he
was named " Taillear Dubh na Tuaighe," that his real name was
" Donald Dubh," and that he was the offspring of a chief of
Lochiel. On one of the oldest tombstones of the family the
" Tuagh" or " battle-axe" is carved — not the more modern, long
274 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE
handled, prettily designed Lochaber axe, but the old, deadly-
looking one, having a short handle, with a rope attached to it,
and which was the axe always used by the leaders in battle, a
specimen of which is in the hands of Mr Colin Livingston, Fort-
William. The Maclachlans of Strath-Lachlan were said to be
descended from the Camerons, and to be related to the Maclach-
lans of Coiruanan, and that may have been the link that led
him to that district for safety ; or it may have been that his
maternal grandfather got the Earl of Argyll to give him a hold-
ing there.
The " Taillear Dubh" was in special danger from the families
of Earrachd and Kinlochiel, as in defence of the absent chief he
had been the cause of the death of these veteran relatives, who
were playing into the hands of their kinsmen, the Mackintoshes.
Ewen of Earrachd was murdered at Inverlochy, where the oppos-
ing parties of the clan met in council ; John of Kinlochiel was
beheaded at Dunstaffnage by order of the Earl of Argyll, whom
the "Taillear Dubh" got to espouse the quarrel through the
influence of his grandfather, Macdougall of Lome. When "Allan
Mac Ian Duibh" returned again to take the power into his own
hands and reign, he came to understand that his relative, " Donull
Mac Eoghain Bhig," alias "Taillear Dubh na Tuaighe," had
always been his best friend. He heard of how he had saved him
from his heartless mother, and had watched over his interests
through all the years of his absence. Then he was sorry that he
had blamed him wrongfully, and to make amends, as well as to
please his offended clan, he paid the memory of the brave man
the compliment of placing him in his coat of arms as supporter
on either side, with his battle-axe held up conspicuously. There
he remains still, and his name lives in the songs, proverbs, and
traditions of his native land ; and next, perhaps, to the great Sir
Ewen, he is their ideal warrior and hero. His name awakens
their pride and their affection; and as long as there is
a Cameron in Lochaber, or Gaelic spoken, there the name of
" Taillear Dubh na Tuaighe" will be remembered.
I am, &c,
MARY MACKELLAR.
275
A RUN THROUGH CANADA AND THE STATES.
BY KENNETH MACDONALD, F.S.A., Scot.
V.— TORONTO.
BETWEEN four and five in the afternoon we made a short stop-
page at the city of Kingston, at one time the capital of Upper
Canada, a city which is of peculiar interest for a Highlander, as
the home of Evan MacColl, the Bard of Loch-Fyne, a poet whose
works are read by Highlanders all over the world ; and not only
himself a poet, but the father of Mary MacColl, the talented
authoress of "Bide a Wee," a collection of poems by the daughter
in no way inferior to those which have come from the father's pen.
At this time it was my intention to pay a visit to Kingston on my
return journey, but this intention I was unfortunately not able to
carry into effect. I had wished to make the acquaintance of the
bard, but I discovered in Toronto that, at the only time I could
have paid a visit to Kingston, he was in another part of Canada.
The railway line passes to the rear of Kingston, so that I was not
able to see much of the city; but the fact that next to Halifax
and Quebec, it is one of the strongest fortified places in the Domi-
nion, makes it interesting to the visitor. Its fortifications, how-
ever, I did not see, and of course cannot describe> except by bor-
rowing from sources which are equally available to my reader as
they are to me.
About eight in the evening I parted with my friend Mr Eraser,
who had to travel by a branch line, and thereafter by steamer on
Lake Ontario to reach his destination ; and for the remainder of
my journey to Toronto, which occupied nearly three hours, I
roamed about from seat to seat, and car to car, seeking the Ameri-
can of the books — the man who would talk on the slightest pro-
vocation, or none at all — but I did not find him. About 1 1 P.M.
Toronto was reached, and within ten minutes afterwards, while
I was attending to my baggage, I was made aware, by loud
cheering in another part of the Depot, that a special train which
had been coming after us the whole day, had arrived, bearing
the Marquis and Marchioness of Lome, who were then just after
setting out on their tour to British Columbia,
2;6 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
The day had been an unpleasant one— perhaps the most
unpleasant during my whole tour — rain having poured in torrents
during the greater part of it, and I was glad to reach my snug
quarters in the Walker House, where, after supper and a bath, I
slept the sleep of the weary. In the morning I devoted an hour to
the examination of a map of the city, and made myself as familiar
as a stranger can by means of a map with the various tramway
routes. This done I sallied forth to make myself practically
acquainted with the city; and following a habit which I can re-
commend to anyone who wishes to get quickly familiar with a
large city, I stepped on the first street car I encountered, and
from it, after a while, I transferred myself to another, and still
another, until in the course of a very short time I traversed a
considerable part of the city, and made myself familiar with the
situations and directions of the principal thoroughfares.
The city is situated on the shores of Lake Ontario, about
thirty miles from its western end. The portion of the city next
the Lake is situated on rather low ground, but the ground rises
with a gentle slope, until a few miles from the Lake shore the top
of a gently sloping ridge is reached, from whence the visitor can
look down upon the city, and see it stretched like a panorama
below him. The site was chosen in 1793 by Governor Simcoe,
the first Governor of Upper Canada. At that time the name of
the future city was York, and the predecessors of the men who
now proudly call Toronto the " Queen City of the West," knew
their town as " Muddy York," and one of them described it as
" fitter for a frog or beaver meadow, than a habitation for human
beings." • The Governor, however, was far-sighted enough to see
that the situation of the city as a commercial centre would more
than compensate for the natural defects of its situation, and the
marvellous progress which Toronto has made in the 90 years
which have elapsed since its first houses were built, justifies the
wisdom of its founder. When the site was chosen it was little
better than a marsh, and the swampy ground gave rise to agues and
fevers to such an extent that the settlement of the city was very
much retarded in its earlier years. Another circumstance con-
tributed to retard its progress. This was the great European war
at the end of the last century, and the beginning of the present,
which, by destroying the men who might otherwise have become
THROUGH CANADA AND THE STATES, 27;
emigrants, prevented the natural growth of the colony. Nearly
thirty years after its foundation it had less than 1400 inhabitants,
but soon after it began to grow more rapidly, and in 1856 it had
a population of over 40,000. In 1859 the seat of the Government
was removed from Toronto to Quebec, and this tended to reduce
the population somewhat, but since that time the city has ad-
vanced with marvellous strides, and its population now amounts
to about 90,000; or, if Yorkville, a suburb on the north of the city,
is included, to about 100,000. At the time of my visit, a vote
was taken in Yorkville on the question whether they should
unite with the city of Toronto, when, by a large majority, the in-
habitants declared for union, so that now Yorkville is actually a
part of the city of Toronto.
When the site of the city was chosen by Governor Simcoe,
the only inhabitants were two families of Indians. Ninety years is
not a long period, even in the history of an American city, yet I
did not wholly realise the comparatively brief space in which
Toronto has grown to its present size, until in course of conversa-
tion with Mr Harman, the City Treasurer, he informed me that
his grandfather, who was one of the earliest settlers in Toronto,
had seen Indian wigwams on the site where the Grand Trunk
Railway Station now stands. The present name of the city is
more modern even than the city itself. York became Toronto
during the Governorship and at the instance of Sir John Colbornc.
The derivation of the later name is somewhat obscure, one opinion
being that it is derived from the Mohawk Dr-on-do " trees on the
island," another that it is derived from an Indian word meaning
" place of meeting." Between the two opinions I cannot decide.
The name has a pleasant sound, and both parties are agreed that
it is an old and an Indian one.
The principal street of the city is King Street, which runs
east and west, almost parallel to Lake Ontario, and at no great
distance above it. It is a fine spacious street, and on each side
is lined by magnificent buildings which would do credit to any
city, either in the old or in the new world. The street is already
built upon for a distance of three miles, and it is being rapidly
extended at both ends. Next in importance, if not, indeed, equal
to it, is Yonge Street, which, beginning at Front Street, nearer
the Lake than King Street, and parallel to it, runs northwards, in-
T
2;3 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
tersecting King Street, and dividing the city into two almost equal
parts. When I asked in Toronto the length of Yonge Street,
the reply was " 30 miles," and this is substantially true, for build-
ings extend all along the line of Yonge Street to Holland Land-
ing, to which it leads. Apart from its great length, Yonge Street
is historically interesting, for it dates back to the days of Governor
Simcoe, who fixed upon the site of the city. The Governor
seems to have been one of the most clear-sighted men who ever
ruled Canada, and in 1794 he opened up the road, now known as
Yonge Street, as a portage from Lake Ontario to Lake Simcoe.
By this means he shortened and cheapened the route to Mac-
kinaw, then the great depot of the fur trade. On the opening of
this route, the North-West Fur Company, which was established
by Frobisher and Mactavish of Montreal in 1782, and which in
1796 employed 2000 hands, instead of sending their supplies by the
River Ottawa by canoes, sent batteaux by the St Lawrence. These
were carted across the portages (one of which was Yonge Street),
and delivered their cargoes in Mackinaw at a saving of £10 to
£15 per ton.
What curious visions this history brings up! Who, now tra-
velling in Canada in a Pullman car, or Palace steamboat, remem-
bers that at a comparatively recent date the whole commerce of
Canada was carried on by means of the birch-bark canoe or the
large batteau, and yet so it is? The birch-bark canoe, which
might be anywhere between 9 and 30 feet in length, was navigated
along the Canadian rivers and lakes where they were navigable,
and when the navigation came to an end, the cargo was unloaded,
and carried on the backs of the voyageurs to the next navigable
water, the canoe being carried in the same way. This was called
the portage. At the end of the portage, the canoe was launched,
the cargo laden, and the water journey resumed. In this way
hundreds of miles of country were traversed, and thousands of
tons of merchandise transported. Prior to the opening up
of the route from Lake Ontario to Lake Simcoe by the road
which is now Yonge Street of Toronto, the Great North-West-
ern Depot of the Fur Trade was reached by canoe ; but with
the opening up of this route the larger class of boat known
as the batteau came to be used. The batteau is a large flat-
bottomed skiff, sharp at both ends, about 40 feet long, and 6
THROUGH CANADA AND THE STATES. 279
to 8 feet wide in the middle, and capable of carrying about 5
tons. When these reached the end of the navigable water, they
were either dragged by means of ropes by men and oxen up the
shallow rapids, or were unloaded, and carted across the portages.
They were provided with masts and lug sails, an anchor and four
oars, and a crew of four men and a pilot. Their draught of
water, with 40 barrels of flour on board was only 20 inches, and
as they could not be capsized in the excitement of a rapid, and
were able by their light draught to creep along shallow waters,
they were found in many cases preferable to the canoe, when
considerable quantities of goods had to be transported. These
clumsy-looking, but very serviceable, vessels were for many years
transported along the route, part of which now forms one of the
busiest thoroughfares in Canada. By-and-bye the batteau was
to some extent replaced by the larger Durham boat or barge,
which held its own until both were superseded by the railway
and steamboat The birch-bark canoe still retains very much of
its own place in the further away districts of the new world,
where the backwoodsman will set out alone on a journey of
several weeks duration with his canoe. During the day it will
transport him along the rivers and lakes, and at night it forms
when turned over, his protection from rain and dew.
But to return to Toronto. Like most other Western cities, it
is yet in its timber age. The streets are paved with wooden
blocks where they are paved at all ; the footways are formed of
planks, many of them very fine pieces of timber from fifteen to
eighteen inches in width ; and the curb and gutters are formed
of the same material. Away from the business part of the city,
many of the houses are entirely built of timber, and the roofs are
covered with shingles.
Everywhere throughout the city there are magnificent public
and private buildings. The residence of the Lieutenant-Governor
of Ontario, fronting Simcoe and King Streets, is designed in the
modern French style of architecture. The walls are of red brick,
relieved with Ohio cut stone dressings, with galvanised iron cor-
nices painted to imitate stone. This material is apparently found
suitable to the climate of Ontario. The main building is three
storeys in height, and has a Mansard roof in which part of the
third storey is situated. In the centre of the building, as seen
from Simcoe Street, there rises a tower 70 feet high, finished
28o THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
with a handsome wrought iron railing. The main building has a
frontage to King Street of about 90 feet, and the kitchen wing,
which is two storeys high, about 100 feet more. The main
entrance is under the tower facing Simcoe Street, and is covered
by a handsomely carved porch supported on clusters of Corinthian
columns. The whole building, though somewhat ornate in detail,
has a substantial appearance, and until its full extent is seen might
be mistaken for the residence of a wealthy merchant, rather than
the official residence of the Governor of a large Province. Perhaps
the most beautiful building in Toronto, however, is the Osgoode
Hall, which is named after the Hon. Wm. Osgoode, the first Chief
Justice of Upper Canada. This building I only saw the outside
of during my first visit to Toronto, but on my return I was taken
through the whole of the interior by Colonel Denison, the Stipen-
diary Magistrate of Toronto. The building is of the classic
style, and the Central Hall is one of the most beautiful I have
seen. The building contains Court-rooms and offices for the
Superior Law Courts of the Province, and it also contains a very
fine Library. In the various parts of the building there are
portraits of the Judges who have from time to time occupied
seats on the bench of the Supreme Court, and if I recollect aright
a fine portrait of Lord DurTerin, the most popular of Canadian
Governors General.
One of the first buildings which the visitor to Toronto will
observe, is Saint James's Cathedral. This is the principal Epis-
copal church in the city, and it is the fourth church which has
occupied the same site, the last one having been burnt thirty or
forty years ago. It is of early English architecture, and is
beautifully executed. About 10 years ago the tower, which is
1 50 feet high, was completed. The spire, which is 306 feet high,
is said to be the highest in America. The clock, which took the
first prize at the exhibition of Vienna, was presented to the
Dean and Church Wardens on Christinas eve, 1876. The move-
ment of the clock is the largest in the world, except that of
Westminster. It plays the Cambridge chimes on the smaller
bells every quarter of an hour, and strikes the hour of the day
on the largest bell. During the day the noise of the street
traffic to a considerable extent drowns the chimes, but at night,
the sweet tones of Saint James's are heard over a larje portion
of the busiest part of the city.
THROUGH CANADA AND THE STATES. 281
After an hour spent in going through the streets, I called
upon Mr Hugh Miller, to whom I carried two letters of introduc-
tion, one from his relative, Mr Gumming, Allanfearn, and the
other from the Editor of the Celtic Magazine. From Mr Miller I
received a warm welcome, as every person hailing from the capital
of the Highlands does. Forty years ago he left Inverness and
settled in Toronto, and he has been witness to the many changes
which have taken place in the latter city in that period during
which it has grown from a town of 14,000 inhabitants to its pre-
sent size. Through Mr Miller I made many new acquaintances
in Toronto, from all of whom I experienced the greatest kindness.
I was desirous before going further West to know something of
agriculture in the Province of Ontario, and the advantages which
that province offers to emigrants, and having informed Mr Miller
of this, he accompanied me to the office of the Immigration De-
partment, when Mr Spence, the secretary, not only supplied m?
with a pile of literature on the subject, but afforded me informa-
tion which no book supplies. Ontario, while it has no prairie
land to give free grants of to settlers, has advantages of its own
to offer to immigrants. It has many cities and towns, and a great
portion of its land has been settled and under cultivation for a
long time. The farmers are, as a rule, well to do, and an immi-
grant without means of stocking land of his own can obtain em-
ployment for himself and his family, on terms which will enable
him, while gaining valuable experience, to save money, while he
lives in a manner which, when compared with the life of an agri-
cultural labourer at home, is comparative luxury. After a few
years spent in this way the servant may, if he prefers to remain
in Ontario, obtain a grant of land in the unsettled part of the
province, and although his agricultural pursuits will be interfered
with for a time by the timber on his land, he will find a market
for the wood at a price which will more than compensate him for
his labour in cutting it. The land which has not yet been taken
up in Ontario is comparatively poor, and if the intending farmer
is not able with his own capital, and what he can borrow, to pur-
chase a clear farm, his better course is admittedly to go West,
where, with the experience he has gained, he will be able, if he is
industrious and intelligent, to make for himself a comfortable
home. K, M'D,
(To be continued.)
282 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
THE ROYAL COMMISSION AND THE
HIGHLAND CROFTERS.
A ROYAL Commission to inquire into the condition of the High-
land Crofters has just been granted by the Government. When
the writer of these lines first suggested the appointment of this
Commission, as far back as 1877, the idea was generally con-
sidered ridiculous, but it is now an accomplished historical fact.
The Editor of the Celtic Magazine, on the I7th of October 1877,
asked Mr Charles Eraser-Mackintosh, M.P., while addressing his
constituents in the Music Hall, Inverness, the following question,
amid the general laughter of the audience : —
Keeping in view that the Government has graciously considered the reputed
scarcity of crabs and lobsters, and of herrings and gar vies, on our Highland coast, of
sufficient importance to justify them in granting two separate Royal Commissions of
Inquiry — will you, in your place in Parliament, next session, move that a similar
Commission be granted to inquire into the present impoverished and wretched con-
dition and, in some places, the scarcity of men and women in the Highlands ; the
cause of this state of things ; and the most effectual remedy for ameliorating the con-
dition of the Highland Crofters generally?"
Mr Eraser-Mackintosh made the following reply, which, with the
question, will be found in the local papers at the time : —
A Member of Parliament had a certain power, and only a certain power. Now,
the question which was here raised was a very large one, and he did not think that he
would have the slightest chance of getting such a Commission as was referred to, unless
the Government was prepared for the demand beforehand, and unless the request was
strengthened by a general expression of feeling in its favour throughout the country.
If Mr Mackenzie, who had written an able article on the subject, which had attracted
great attention, and others with him, could by petition, or by deputation to the Prime
Minister, pave the way for a motion, he would be very glad to make it. His moving
in the matter without adequate support would hamper and hurt the laudable object Mr
Mackenzie had at heart.
Since that date the question has never been lost sight of, and in-
fluential Highlanders extended their support in public and in
private to pave the way for action in the House of Commons.
The Gaelic Society of Inverness soon after petitioned Parliament
in favour of a Royal Commission of Inquiry. Towards the end
of 1880 a public meeting, held in Inverness, and presided over by
Mr Eraser-Mackintosh, M. P., petitioned in favour of it; the Fede-
ROYAL COMMISSION AND CROFTERS. 283
ration of Celtic Societies took the matter up ; the Gaelic Society
of Perth ; the Highland Law Reform Associations of Inverness
and Edinburgh got up large meetings, and petitioned Parlia-
ment ; Mr Eraser-Mackintosh, M.P. ; Dr Cameron, M.P. ; Mi-
Dick Peddie, M.P. ; Sir George Campbell, M.P. ; D. H. Macfar-
lane, M.P. ; and others, kept the question before the House of
Commons and the country ; and, on the 22nd of February last,
Mr Eraser-Mackintosh, M.P., got up a Memorial, signed by
twenty-one Scottish Members of Parliament, to the Home Secre-
tary, which was forwarded, accompanied by the following letter : —
5 Clarges Street, W., 23rd Feb. 1883.
DEAR SIR WILLIAM,— I have never taken up your time by letter or interview
before in reference to the state of the crofter and rural population of the Highlands and
Islands of Scotland, but now feel constrained to do so.
It is upwards of two years since I presided at a public meeting at Inverness,
where the position was discussed, and enquiry desiderated. A notice on the subject
was put on the paper of the House by me in the summer of 1881, and again early in
1882. A formal resolution praying for inquiry by Royal Commission was tabled. I
was, however, never lucky enough to get a first place for the discussion, and I have
failed for any night open prior to the ensuing Easter Recess.
In these circumstances, feeling very unhappy at the present state of matters, and
believing that many of my poor countrymen are looking to me for Parliamentary
assistance, I beg to represent to you as strongly as I can that—
1st. The people themselves desire such inquiry ; and on this I may refer to a
curious petition presented by me on Wednesday from Glendale, to all appearance the
true and unprompted views of the crofters.
2nd. The public in Scotland by numerous meetings and otherwise show that they
concur.
3rd. The press of Scotland, from the Scotsman downwards, may be said to be un-
animous.
4th. The landlords generally, and officials in the disturbed districts are not averse;
and
5th, and lastly, I have felt it my duty within the last two or three days to
ascertain the mind of the Scottish members. There are seven members of Govern-
ment, and one incapacitated, reducing our number for present purposes to 52. Several
are not in town, but two are known to have publicly expressed themselves in favour
of inquiry, viz., Mr Dick Peddie and Mr William Holmes. Of those to whom I have
appealed, 21, including several Conservatives, have signed the memorial enclosed."
Seven, though they hesitated to sign, have expressed their approval of inquiry. I
have only found four decidedly hostile.
I may, therefore, assure you that a large majority of the unofficial Scottish, mem-
bers are favourable ; and this, coupled with what I have said in the preceding four
articles, should satisfy the Government no longer to delay.
For my own part, I could not have believed that so soon after the meeting at
Inverness in December 1880 the agitation should have gone to such a pitch.
I am as clear as any one that the law should be upheld, yet it will be im; rudent
284 T11K CELTIC MAGAZINE.
to delay till every legal point be adjusted. I fear new ones will be constantly cropping
up. — Yours faithfully.
C. FRASER-MACKINTOSH.
To Sir W. Vernon Harcourt, M.P.
The Memorial, with its signatories, is as follows :—
To the Secretary of State for the Home Department.
We, the undersigned Scottish members of the House of Commons, while fully
recognising the necessity of vindicating the authority of the law, consider that, under
existing circumstances, it is most important that a Royal Commission of Inquiry into
the condition of the crofter and rural population of the Highlands and Islands of Scot-
land should be granted by the Government without delay.
C. FRASER-MACKINTOSH. S. WILLIAMSON.
GEORGE ANDERSON. FRANK HENDERSON.
CHARLES CAMERON. R. W. COCHRAN-PATRICK.
T. R. BUCHANAN. G. ARMITSTEAD.
G. CAMPBELL. JOHN C. DALRYMPLE HAY.
J. STEWART. CLAUD ALEXANDER.
ANDREW GRANT. JAMES ALEX. CAMPBELL.
ROBERT FARQUHARSON. ARCHIBALD ORR-EWING.
ALEX. H. GORDON. G. BALFOUR.
J. W. BARCLAY. S. D. WADDY.
PETER M 'LAG AN.
22nd February 1883.
The seven members referred to in Mr Fraser-Mackintosh's
letter to Sir William Harcourt, as hesitating to sign, were, we
understand, Mr Fender (Wick Burghs) ; Sir Alexander Matheson,
Baronet (County of Ross) ; Sir Donald Currie (County of Perth) ;
Mr Parker (Burgh of Perth) ; Mr Bolton (County of Stirling) ;
Mr Campbell (Ayr Burghs) ; and Mr Dalrymple (County of
Bute). Those distinctly opposed to any inquiry were — Sir T. E.
Colbroke (County of Lanark); Sir H. Maxwell (County of
Wigtown) ; Mr E. Noel (Dumfries Burghs) ; and Mr Preston
Bruce (County of Fife).
Lord Colin Campbell (County of Argyll) has since intimated
that had he been asked he would have signed the Memorial to
Government. None of the others were seen, as they were either
out of London or absent from the House.
It will be noticed, we believe, with very general regret and
surprise, that not a single Northern Member of Parliament,
except Mr Fraser-Mackintosh, has signed the Memorial. If any
proof were wanted that inquiry was looked forward to by the
northern landlords with disfavour, and, in some instances, with
ETHICS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. 285
dismay — though they feel that it has now become necessary-
it would be found in this significant fact. It should also con-
vince the Government of the necessity of making the Royal
Commission really effective by placing men upon it who will
counteract the landlord opposition and aristocratic influence,
which will certainly have to be met in the course of the inquiry
on every point where the facts are likely to tell against the land-
lords and their agents. Unless the other side is strongly repre-
sented, so as to meet, on something like equal grounds, the power,
wealth, and influence of those whose conduct has made this
inquiry necessary, the Royal Commission had better never to
have been granted. It will only prove the commencement in
earnest of an agitation on the Land Question, the end of which
no one can predict.
Considering the stage which the question has now reached,
we think we are justified in reproducing what Mr Fraser-Mack-
intosh writes to us on the 5th of March. He says, alluding to
the question put to him by the writer in the Inverness Music
Hall, and already referred to — " I see that you put the ques-
tion very broadly in 1877, and you are therefore alone entitled
to the full credit of initiating the movement." The reader will
not be surprised if, in these circumstances, we shall watch the
composition of the Commission, as well as its proceedings
throughout, with more than ordinary interest.
A. M.
THE ETHICS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY.
III.— WHAT is RENT?
RELATIVE to the subject of these papers there is an activity of
thought, combined with an indefinable feeling that something
must be done, which no one is able to understand, and which can
only be described by the trite French expression, " It is some-
thing in the air." This, indeed, is no less true of the physical
world than it is of the world of mind, for with adverse seasons,
potato blight, and cattle epidemics, it may well be said " it is
something in the air." Events are, therefore, likely to solve the
286 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
knotty points of economic science more than the speculations of
philosophers. Still, as these speculations appertain to funda-
mental doctrines which influence human thought and action, in
the most important social and economic relations, it is all the
more necessary to expose and eliminate error. Legislative at-
tempts at a practical compromise of existing difficulties may
effect some temporary relief, but such legislation cannot be of an
enduring nature, unless it proceed upon sound fundamental prin-
ciples.
The space at my disposal in these pages does not admit of
such a full examination of the much controverted subject of rent,
as its importance, as well as its abstruseness, demands ; but with-
out imposing too much upon the good nature of the Editor, or
upon the patience of the reader, I may be able to review the dis-
cussion so far as to present, in brief outline, what appears to me
to produce the confusion of thought regarding it.
I have already called attention to the fact that there are two
principles of productive industry — the agricultural and commercial
and that the one is inverse, whilst the other is direct. I have
also defined land as natural power, as a correction upon the
definition of the utilitarian school, who refer to it as natural
monopoly. In taking an ethical view of the subject, the import-
ance of a correct definition must appear, as it leads the mind to
consider it in the higher and more important relationship of
power to freedom, justice, and equality. Following the example,
of Adam Smith and his adherents, who place all exchangeable
value in labour, I was obliged to give a brief analysis of that
subject, and in doing so I was able, at all events, to show that
those who place exchange value in utility, materiality, demand
and supply, and such like, could not give a logical and intelligible
explanation of the phenomena of trade and commerce.
It still remains, however, to be shown how the labour theory
of value can explain how an acre of land in the City of London
is worth ,£100,000, whilst another on a Highland mountain side,
which neither spade nor plough has tickled into a smiling harvest,
is worth only a few shillings, but still possessing exchange value,
as proved by the fact that it pays rent. This is the unsolved
problem of economic science, and before we can accept Mr
George's " remedy," or Mr Russell Wallace's " land nationalisa-
ETHICS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. 287
tion," we ought to solve the difficulty, if it is within the compass
and comprehension of the human intellect to do so.
In his " History of Civilisation" Buckle mentions the nature
of the difficulty, and, as Mr George refers to the passage and has
made it the groundwork of his eloquent book, " Progress and
Poverty," I quote it: —
" Thus far as to the different ways in which climate and soil affect the creation of
wealth. But another point of equal, or perhaps of superior, importance remains be-
hind. After the wealth has been created, a question arises as to how it is to be dis-
tributed ; that is to say, what proportion is to go to the upper classes, and what to the
lower. In an advanced stage of society this depends upon several circumstances of
great complexity, and which it is not necessary here to examine. But in a very early
stage of society, and before its later and refined complications have begun, it may, I
think, be proved that the distribution of wealth is, like its creation, governed entirely
by physical laws ; and that those laws are, moreover, so active as to have invariably
kept a vast majority of the inhabitants of the fairest portion of the globe in a condition
of constant and inextricable poverty. If this can be demonstrated, the immense im-
portance of such laws is manifest. For, since wealth is an undoubted source of power,
it is evident that, supposing other things equal, an inquiry into the distribution of
wealth is an inquiry into the distribution of power, and, as such, will throw great light
on the origin of those social and political inequalities, the play and opposition of which
form a considerable part of the history of every civilised country."
In a foot note he adds —
"Indeed, many of them are still unknown ; for, as M. Key justly observes, most
writers pay too exclusive an attention to the production of wealth, and neglect the
laws of its distribution. In confirmation of this, I may mention the theory of rent,
which was only discovered about half a century ago, and which is connected with so
many subtle arguments that it is not yet generally adopted, and even some of its advo-
cates have shown themselves unequal to defend their own cause. The great law of
the ratio between cost of labour and the profits of stock, is the highest generalisation
we have reached respecting the distribution of wealth j but it cannot be consistently
admitted by any one who holds that rent enters into price."
It will be seen from this quotation that rent is the disturbing
element, or unresolved factor, in proportionals, which in free in-
dustries are capable of being applied in accordance with a per-
ception of the mind as to some law of distributive justice. Now,
if this disturbing element were eliminated, or resolved into some
other proportional, or that part of it which cannot be so resolved
regarded as an accruing residuum belonging to the state, or to
society, capable of being ascertained and appropriated, it seems
to me that the Rule of Three might be applied to political
economy.
2SS TIIK CKLTIC MAGAZIXK.
It must be explained here to the uninitiated that the rent of
land, or, rather that part of the rent of land, which is the subject
of perplexity, is what accrues to the landlord over and above the
interest upon his expenditure in reclaiming land, building stead-
ings, dykes, and all other ameliorations. Ricardo defined it as a
charge made for the use of the indestructible powers of the soil,
or, in other words, its germinating property. Both landlords and
socialists place value (money value) in this and fight over it.
Still further, working upon this notion, he propounded a theory
of rent which has been seized upon by materialists, and which
Stuart Mill, by a common custom of utilitarians, calls the laiv of
rent ; for their theories, it should seem, must be regarded as funda-
mental laws. The ordinary reader, in Scotland particularly,
where the will of the landlord is almost the only recognised law
of rent, will be very curious to know what this law is. Well, here
it is.—
"It is only, then, because land is not unlimited in quantity and uniform in
quality, and because in the progress of population land of an inferior quality, or less
advantageously situated, is called into cultivation, that rent is ever paid for the use of
it. When, in the progress of society, land of the second degree of fertility is taken
into cultivation, rent immediately commences on that of the first quality, and the
amount of that rent will depend on the difference in the quality of these two portions
of land. When land of the third quality is taken into cultivation rent immediately
commences on the second, and is regulated, as before, by the difference in their pro-
ductive powers. At the same time the rent of the first quality will rise, for that must
always be above the rent of the second, by the difference between the produce which
they yield with a given quantity of capital and labour. With every step in the pro-
gress of population which shall oblige a country to have recourse to land of a worse
quality, to enable it to raise its supply of food, rent on all the more fertile land will
rise."
The absurdity of this theory must be apparent to every prac-
tical farmer, for on every large farm, as well as in every large
field, there are varieties of soil of different degrees of fertility.
The first tithing that was farmed, or used agriculturally, in Eng-
land, probably contained all the varieties of soil, of conformation,
and of scenery which the aspect of an English county presents at
the present day; and yet with no scarcity of land of the same
quality round about, the people must have paid rent to the supe-
rior, whether sovereign or subject. These varieties which render
nature so beautiful, and so well adapted as a habitation for man,
in producing corn, trees, grazings of all sorts, and cover for fowls,
ETHICS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. 289
are by Ricardo termed " gradations," and the misuse of words is
very apt to produce confusion of thought.
Land of a low degree of fertility may be raised to a high
degree by the application of labour, lime, phosphates, and man-
ures. Besides, in the progress of society, as we know from his-
tory, the descent has often been towards deeper and more fertile
soils, such, for instance, as the marshes of Lincoln, many of the
swamps of Scotland, and in India and on the Continent to the
deep and fertile soils of banks and deltas of rivers. Are the free
lands in the Western States of less fertility than land in the
neighbourhood of New York, or the free lands of Manitoba than
lands in the neighbourhood of Montreal? But if situation ac-
counts for rent, what then becomes of the indestructible powers
of the soil ; but what is the value of any theory of rent which
leaves out the ground rent of town lands and rent of mines?
The reader must see that to ask these questions is to refute com-
pletely the theory as to gradations of soil and descent to lower
soils.
At this stage, however, I shall not detain the reader by fur-
ther illustrations to show the absurdity and falseness of this de-
lusive and pernicious theory which places value in land apart
from human labour ; but will proceed to show the confusion and
uncertainty which an adherence to it produced on so great a
logician as Stuart Mill, and by-and-bye we shall examine the
dangerous conclusions to which it led Mr Henry George. Mill
says : —
" This theory of rent, first propounded at the end of last century by Dr Ander-
son, and which, neglected at the time, was almost simultaneously re-discovertd,
twenty years later, by Sir Edward West, Mr Malthus, and Mr Ricardo. It is one of
the cardinal doctrines of political economy ; and until it was understood, no consistent
explanation could be given of many of the more complicated industrial phenomena.'
This confident and dogmatic tone pervades the whole of Mill's
writings; and yet, with his great command of sophistical argu-
ment, he makes such admissions of failure that the subject is
made contemptible. In the sequel to this declaration, he says: —
" It is not pretended that the facts of any concrete case conform with absolute
precision to this or any other scientific principle. We must never forget that the
truths of political economy are truths only in the rough 'i his constitutes
a law of rent, as near the truth as suck a law can possibly be ; though, of course,
29o THE CELTIC MAGAZINE
modified or disturbed in individual cases, by pending contracts, individual miscal-
culations, the influence of habit, and even the particular feelings and dispositions of
the persons concerned."
The reader will be disposed, I think, to agree with me in the
opinion that a law which is subject to so many modifications,
and requires so many apologies, may be as good in the breach as
in the performance.
Without further discussion of the question, it is quite suffi-
cient to mention that this political economy, of which it is a car-
dinal principle, and of which the reader hears so much out of the
mouths of landlords, politicians, and public journalists, consists
of vicious theories of population, values, and law of rent, pro-
pounded by Malthus, Ricardo, and Mill, which result in a com-
plete subversion of the fundamental principles laid down and ex-
plained by Scotland's greatest philosopher.
As a distinguishing feature of this controversy, it is not a
little remarkable that those who are ranged against the utilitarian
school, and are adherents of Adam Smith, should not only be
distinguished by great power of intellect, but also imbued with a
deep sense of the evident order and design of nature, combined
with a hopeful view of man's better destiny in the world, and a
broad sympathy with labouring and suffering humanity. Of
these the most eminent are Dr Chalmers, Dr Whewell, and the
the brilliant-minded Frenchman, Frederic Bastiat, whose early
death was a great loss to the science, for he left only a few
sentences on the subject of rent Dr Chalmers discussed the
theory fully and conclusively, as I think, although Mill passes
him over on this point, whilst he quotes him on another of no
importance (the consideration of a general glut) where he was
more vulnerable. Dr Chalmers refers the theoiy to a cause
which lies at the root of many of the fallacies and confusions
connected with land. He says : —
"The real cause of rent is the more strenuous competition of labourers and
capitalists, now more numerous than before, and this cause, assigned by Dr Smith,
ought not to be superseded, as if it were a distinct and different cause, by that which,
in fact, is but a consequence, from itself. This inversion of the truth has led to
vicious conclusions in political economy ; and as is the effect of every false principle,
it has mystified the science."
Having thus far briefly reviewed the debateable ground be-
tween two schools of economists, regarding the most important
SCOTTISH MYTHS. 291
part of it, in its social and political aspect, I shall delay to a
future occasion the further examination of the question.
As I have cited so many eminent authors who are opposed
to this theory, and seeing that Mr Henry George bases his whole
argument upon it, I consider that he makes a very bold assertion
when he says : —
" And in accepting the law of rent, which, since the time of Ricardo, has been
accepted by every economist of standing, and which, like a geometrical axiom, has
but to be understood to compel assent, the law of interest and law of wages, as I have
stated them, are inferentially accepted, as its necessary sequences."
By-and-bye we shall see the value of Mr George's geometrical
axioms and arithmetical proportionals ; but in the meantime it
is quite sufficient to assert, as a matter of fact, that the most
eminent thinkers amongst European economists reject the
Ricardian theory, and that hardly any American of note accepts
it as a scientific truth.
Guernsey. MALCOLM MACKENZIE.
(To be continued.)
SCOTTISH MYTHS: NOTES ON SCOTTISH HISTORY AND TRADI-
TIONS. By ROBERT CRAIG MACLAGAN, M.D. Edinburgh : Maclachlan
and Stewart.
WHAT Dr Charles Mackay has done for Gaelic etymology, Dr Maclagan has set
himself to do for the mythology of the Gael. And he has succeeded to his heart's
content ; not only has he drawn our noble heritage of myth into contempt, but he has
done more — he has dragged it through the mire. We do not know whether to laugh
or to weep over this bad book, a book bad both in style and matter. In the first
place, the work is a string of notes, more or less disconnected, without chapters or
headings of any kind, yet containing an index, which we found very useful in turning
up words to see the different etymologies given at various points in the book for the
same word. Again, the work, purporting to be by a scientific man, is thoroughly un-
scientific. Its history is untrustworthy, save when he quotes ; his ancient geography
is much at fault — the catuvelauni on the Thames are classed together with the Miati
of Mearns quite indiscriminately. The author does not know the rudiments of myth*
ology, and as to the science of language, he knows absolutely nothing of its principles.
With him, truly, consonants count for nothing, and vowels for very much less. His
use of the Greek language, for example — for he seriously brings our ancestors from
292 THK CELTIC MAGAZINE.
Thrace and other such places, and his frequent references to the Greek lexicon of
Damm, tend to drive the reader to dwell with peculiar emphasis on that author's
name. The book deals chiefly with two points -the ethnology and myths of Scot-
land. From the confused mass of indigested material presented us, we pick out the
following facts : — "The invaders of Britain were of various nationalities — Belgian
Gauls, Germans, Thracians, &c. Their descendants came to use the language spoken
by their Celtic mothers in Alba and Erin ; while much of their tradition was derived
from their foreign forefathers." And hence it is that Dr Maclagan can lay nearly
every language in Europe under contribution to unravel the difficulties of Celtic myths
and names. The Roman soldiers— especially the Batavi and Tungri, who turn up at
every odd corner in the book, why, we cannot say - mingle with the Scottish natives.
Hence "the Scots were illegitimate, the Picts claimed their mothers position in
society, the Attecotts, carrying their feelings to a natural conclusion, disliked their
fathers, and were called after the two Greek words atta, father, and kotos, hatred ;"
while the derivation of the name Scots is from the Greek word skotios, " illegitimate,"
duly found in Damm ! Dr Maclagan takes this unpatriotic view of his ancestors ior a
deep scientific reason; that reason is the phallic worship. Like every beginner in
mythologic science, he has a craze for some unity of explanation, and this unity he
finds not in the solar worship, of which he says little, but in the phallic worship, by
which he explains all sorts of traditions, customs, relics, and names. In fact he re-
duces every proper name to either a bowl, cup, bell, pillar, altar, pole, or cross ; or
else to terms signifying love, lust, or wantonness with their physical and other mental
concomitants. Even his own name of Maclagan he spares not ; it means the son of
the bell, and hence its phallic connection. Poor St Fillan may well turn in his grave !
The root of the name Fillan is phallos, and is seen besides in Fal (lia fal), catu-
velaunos, Valentine, &c. St Columba fares no better ; his name evidently comes from
Latin columna, a pillar, and hence the sequel. To these derivations we might add
hundreds of others equally wild and preposterous ; on such principles, or rather such
want of principles of philology, any name can be derived from anything, provided the
linguistic net is cast wide enough. And, as a consequence, double and even triple
derivations are calmly offered us from which to take our choice ; sometimes this
happens inadvertently. The great Welsh King Cunedda, who lived about the end of
the Roman occupation, is identified with Cnaeus Agricola, who lived three hundred
years before, for, as he naively puts it, "Cnaeus requires little ingenuity to make it
Cunaethus !" No, indeed ! Yet in another place this Cunedda is obliviously derived
as from "dog-shore," conu-aot ! He connects Arthur somehow with Agricola; both
their names mean " farmer," and they fought much the same battles, he holds. But
we have said too much of this book. We protest against such crude and immature
workmanship being foisted upon us under the honoured name of " Scottish Myths."
MR SELLAR'S TRIAL.— A full report of Sellar's trial in 1816 will be issued
by A. & W. Mackenzie, publishers of the Celtic Magazine, in a few days. This will
give the public an opportunity of judging the whole question for themselves. It has
become so rare that it is scarcely possible to procure a copy of it.
THE
CELTIC MAGAZINE.
CONDUCTED BY
ALEXANDER MACKENZIE, F.S.A., Scot.
No. XCI. MAY 1883. VOL. VIII.
CELTIC MYTHOLOGY.
BY ALEXANDER MACBAIN, M.A.
I.
THE field of Mythology, strictly defined, embraces the fabulous
events believed in by a nation and the religious doctrines implied
in these. But the term is for convenience' sake extended so as
to include the kindred subject of folk-lore. Now folk-lore in-
cludes all those popular stories of which the fairy tales of our
nursery are a good illustration, and where the religious element
implied in Mythology is absent. The term Celtic Mythology, in
these papers, is understood, therefore, to include the popular
traditions and legendary tales of the Celts, the fabulous actions
and exploits of their heroes and deities, the traditions of their
early migrations, their fairy tales, and the popular beliefs in
regard to the supernatural world. The scope of the discussion
will include an introductory paper or two on the general principles
of Mythology — its cause and spread, and the connection of the
Mythology of the Celts with those of the kindred nations of
Europe and Asia.
CHARACTER OF MYTH.
"There was once a farmer, and he had three daughters.
They were washing clothes at a river. A hoodie crow came
round, and he said to the eldest one, ' 'M-pos-u-mi — Will you
marry me — farmer's daughter ?' * I won't, indeed, you ugly
T
294 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
brute; an ugly brute is a hoodie,' said she. He came to the
second one on the morrow, and he said to her, ' 'M-pos-u-mi—
Wilt thou wed me?' 'Not I, indeed,' said she; ' an ugly brute is
a hoodie.' The third day he said to the youngest, ' 'M-pos-u-mi
— Wilt thou wed me — farmer's daughter ?' ' I will wed thee,'
said she ; ' a pretty creature is the hoodie.' And on the morrow
they married.
" The hoodie said to her, ' Whether wouldst thou rather that
I should be a hoodie by day and a man at night ; or be a hoodie
at night and a man by day ?' ' I would rather that thou wert a
man by day and a hoodie at night,' says she. After this he was
a splendid fellow by day and a hoodie at night. A few days
after he got married he took her to his own house.
" At the birth of the first child, there came at night the very
finest music that ever was heard about the house. Every one
slept, and the child was taken away. Her father came to the
door in the morning, and he was both sorrowful and wrathful that
the child was taken away.
" The same thing, despite their watching, happened at the
birth of the second child ; music — sleep — and stealing of the child.
The same thing happened, too, at the birth of the third child, but
on the morning of the next day they went to another house that
they had, himself and his wife and his sisters-in-law. He said to
them by the way, ' See that you have not forgotten something.'
The wife said, * I forgot my coarse comb.' The coach in which
they were fell a withered faggot, and he flew away as a hoodie !
" Her two sisters returned, and she followed after him.
When he would be on a hill-top, she would follow to try and
catch him ; and when she would reach the top of a hill, he would
be in the hollow on the other side. When night came, and she
was tired, she had no place of rest or dwelling. She saw a little
house of light far from her, and though far from her, she was not
long in reaching it.
"When she reached the house she stood deserted at the
door. She saw a little laddie about the house, and she yearned
after him exceedingly. The house-wife told her to come in, that
she knew her cheer and travel. She lay down, and no sooner
did the day come than she rose. She went out, and as she was
going from hill to hill, saw a hoodie, whom she followed as on the
day before. She came to a second house ; saw a second laddie ;
CELTIC MYTHOLOGY. 295
pursued the hoodie on a third day, and arrived at night at a third
house. Here she was told she must not sleep, but be clever and
catch the hoodie when he would visit her during night. But she
slept ; he came where she was, and let fall a ring on her right
hand. Now, when she woke, she tried to catch hold of him, and
she caught a feather of his wing. He left the feather with her,
and went away. In the morning she did not know what to do
till the house-wife told her that he had gone over a hill of poison,
over which she could not go without horse shoes on her hands
and feet. She gave her man's clothes, and told her to learn
smithying till she could make horse-shoes for herself.
" This she did, and got over the hill of poison. But on the
day of her arrival, she found that her husband was to be married
to the daughter of a great gentleman that was in the town. As
festivities were in progress, the cook of the house asked the
stranger to take his place and make the wedding meal. She
watched the bridegroom, and let fall the ring and feather in the
broth intended for him. With the first spoon he took up the
ring, with the next the feather. He asked for the person who
cooked the meal, and said, 'that now was his married wife.' The
spells went off him. They turned back over the hill of poison,
she throwing the horse-shoes behind her to him, as she went a
bit forward, and he following her. They went to the three houses
where she had been. These were the houses of his three sisters ;
and they took with them their three sons, and they came home to
their own home, and they were happy." *
Such is a good specimen of the folk-tale, and the folk-tales
are merely the modern representatives of the old Mythology —
merely the detritus, as it were, of the old myths which dealt with
the gods and the heroes of the race. In the above tale we are in
quite a different world from the practical and scientific views of
the iQth century; we have birds speaking and acting as rational
beings, and yet exciting no wonder to the human beings they
come in contact with ; supernatural spells whereby men may be
turned into animals ; a marriage with a bird, which partially
breaks these spells, and the bird becomes a man for part of
the day; supernatural kidnapping, ending in the disappearance
of the man-bird ; and pursuit of him by the wife through fairy
* Abridged from Campbell's West Highland Tales, vol. i, p. 63.
296 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
regions of charms and spells and untold hardships— a pursuit
which ends successfully. It looks all a wild maze of childish
nonsense, unworthy of a moment's serious consideration ; it would
certainly appear to be a hopeless subject for scientific research ;
for what could science, whose object is truth, have to do with a
tissue of absurdities and falsehoods ? But this view is a super-
ficial one, though it is the one commonly held. On looking
more deeply into the matter, we shall find that after all there is
a method in the madness of Mythology, and that the incon-
gruous mass of tales and broken-down myths that make up a
nation's folk-lore is susceptible of scientific treatment. Science
first attacks the problem by the method of comparison ; it com-
pares the myths and tales of one nation with those of another,
with the view of discovering similarities. The outlines, for ex-
ample, of the tale already given, exist not merely in one or two
more tales in our own folk-lore, but can also be traced over all
the continent of Europe, as well as in many parts of Asia. The
outline of the tale is this— The youngest and best of three
daughters is married or given up to some unsightly being or
monster, who in reality is a most beautiful youth, but who is
under certain spells to remain in a low form of life until some
maiden is found to marry him. He then regains his natural
form, though, as a rule, only partially; and the newly-
married pair have to work out his complete redemption
from the spells. But, just as he is about to be free from
the spells, the curiosity or disobedience of the wife ruins every-
thing; he disappears, and then follows for the wife the dark
period of wandering and toil, which can be brought to an end
only by the achievement of tasks, generally three in number,
each hopelessly beyond human powers. The husband, who
meanwhile has forgotten, owing to the nature of the spells upon
him, all about his wife, is on the eve of marrying another, when
the last task of all is accomplished by the persevering courage of
the wife. The spells then leave him for ever, and happiness
reigns in the household ever after.
There are in our Highland folk-lore one or two versions of
this same tale. The story of the "Daughter of the Skies," in Mr
Campbell's book, is one variation. Here the hoodie-crow is re-
placed by a little doggie, and the wife's disobedience is clearly
brought out, while the supernatural machinery— the magical
CELTIC MYTHOLOGY. 297
scissors and needle, for example— is much more elaborate. The
tale also is found in Norway ; in the Norse tale, " East of the
Sun and West of the Moon," the hero appears at first as a white
bear, who, on his marriage with the heroine, becomes a man by
night. She must not, however, see him, for light must not fall on
his body or else he at once disappears. But the wife, instigated
by her mother, steals a sight of him by lamp-light, with the con-
sequence that he awakes and vanishes. Then follow her trials,
pursuit, and recovery of him. The beautiful Greek tale of Psyche
and Cupid is but a variation of the same myth. Psyche, the
youngest of three royal daughters, incurs the wrath of Venus,
who sends Cupid to inspire her with love for something con-
temptible ; as Titania, in Shakespeare, is made to fall in love with
the transformed weaver, Bottom. But Cupid, captivated by her
beauty, falls in love with her himself, conveys her to a secret
cave, and visits her only at night, under strict charge of her not
attempting to see him by any light. Her jealous sisters persuade
her that she is married to some ugly monster, and she accord-
ingly determines to disobey his injunctions, and inspect him by
lamp-light. In so doing, she allows in her admiration of his
beauty, a drop of hot oil to fall on his shoulder, and he awakes,
and escapes. She suffers woes untold in her pursuit of him,
being finally a slave in the household of Venus, who treats her
very cruelly. But, of course, she recovers her lost lover at long
last. And, again, in India, in the old religious books of the
Brahmins, is a somewhat similar tale — the story of Urvasi and
Pururavas, the main features of which are the same as the Gaelic
and Greek tales already given. To the English reader, the well-
known tale of " Beauty and the Beast" will at once occur as an
exact parallel to all these. And, if we take the myths where the
heroine is the loathly monster, we shall find an equally wide
distribution. We have the Hindu tale, where the Princess is
disguised as a withered old woman ; the Loathly Lady of Teu-
tonic Mythology; and the Celtic story of Diarmad's love for the
daughter of the king of the Land under the Waves, who appears
first as a hideous monster, and becomes, on approaching Diarmad,
the most beautiful woman ever seen.
Thus, then, we have traced the same myth among nations so
widely apart as the Celts and Hindus, while, intermediate between
these, we found it among the Greeks and Teutons. And some
298 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
myths are even more widely distributed than that; the tale of the
'imprisoned maiden and the hero who rescues her from the dragon
or monster appears among all the nations of Europe as well as
among many of the nations of Asia. Hence, from India in the
East, to Ireland in the West, we may find a great mass of mythi-
cal tales common to the various nations. And this being the
case, it may plainly become a matter of scientific enquiry, first,
What the cause of these peculiar myths and tales can be ? and,
secondly, What the significance is of their wide distribution ?
CAUSE OF MYTH.
The cause and origin of these myths have puzzled philoso-
phers of all ages, and it is only a generation ago when the first
unravelling of the difficult problem really took place. In olden
times their origin was set down to the well-known faculty of
invention that man possesses ; they were mere inventions and
fictions, mostly purposeless, though some were evidently in-
tended for explanations of natural phenomena or of historical
events, and others again for the conveyance of moral truth.
There were practically two schools of myth-explainers ; those
who regarded myths as mere allegories or parables, and
from them extracted codes of moral obligation and hidden
knowledge of the mysteries of nature ; and, again, those
who, so to speak, "rationalised" the myths— that is to say,
those who explained myths as exaggerated real events. Some
of these explained, for example, Jupiter as king of Crete
in the pre-historic times; and, again, the giant that Jack
killed, according to such explanations, was not necessarily
far exceeding the natural limit of six or seven feet in height,
for the only point to notice was that he was a big burly
brute of little sense, overcome by the astuteness of a much lesser
man. But this theory gets into grave difficulties when it
grapples with the supernatural and the supranatural ; in fact, it
fails ignominiously. And as to the allegorical theory, while it has
no difficulty in explaining Jack the Giant Killer as merely the
personification of the truth that power of mind is superior to
power of body, that theory is completely wrecked in explaining
the myths of Jupiter and the gods generally. No allegory can
explain most of these myths, especially the older myths; while
the different explanations given by different " allegorizers " of
CELTIC MYTHOLOGY. 293
even the simplest myths point to a fundamental error in this
theory. Now, it must not be supposed that both allegory and
real events had no share in the formation of myths ; they were,
indeed, most potent factors in the later stages of Mythology, and
must have existed all along as a cause for myth. Another theory
may be noticed in passing as to the origin of myths in regard to
the deities and cosmogony of the world. It may be called the
" degradation " theory, and the principle of it is this : As all
languages were supposed by theologians to be descendants of the
original Hebrew tongue spoken in Eden, so the Mythology of all
nations must be more or less a broken-down remembrance of the
Hebrew religion and philosophy, first imparted to man in the
Garden of Eden. The stoutest supporter of this view is Mr
Gladstone. He goes so far as to hold that distinct traces of the
Trinity can be found in Greek Mythology, and he consequently
resolves Zeus, Appollo, and Athena into the three persons of the
Trinity ! Supposing for a moment that this theory of the
degradation of myth was true, or, indeed, that our only explana-
tion was either or both of the other theories, what a mass of
senseless wickedness and immorality much of the deservedly
admired Greek Mythology would be? Such theories would
argue equal wickedness in the race from whose fancy such inven-
tions sprung: for the Greek Olympus is very full of rapine, pari-
cide, and vice. Yet the Greeks were neither an immoral nor
degraded race, but far otherwise. It is this dark side of a
nation's Mythology that has puzzled and shocked so many
philosophers, and made shipwreck of their theories as to the
origin of myths.
With the rise of the science of language and its marked
success, all within this century, a complete revolution has taken
place, not merely in the case of philology itself, but also in the
kindred subjects of Ethnology and Mythology. The methods
adopted in linguistic research have also been adopted in the case
of Mythology — first, all preconceptions and national prejudices
have been put aside ; then a careful, even painful examination
and comparison of languages have been made, to find laws of
interchange of sounds ; a consequent discovery of the relationships
between languages has taken place ; and lastly, a discussion as
to the origin of language is thus rendered possible. Exactly
the same methods have been employed in the elucidation of
3oo THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
myths, with a success that, on the whole, is gratifying. In so
airy and fanciful a subject, results of such strict scientific accuracy
cannot be obtained as in the kindred science of language. And
a good deal of harm has also been done, even with scientific
methods, by pressing some theories of explanation too far. Some
Mythologists, for example, are too apt to reduce every myth to a
myth about the sun, and hence the evil repute of the " solar
myth " theory. But this is merely a good theory injudiciously
used ; it does not alter the fact of the importance in Mythology
of the sun worship.
GLENQUAICH.
[THE Breadalbane Clearances were effected on an extensive scale ; and Glen-
quaich, rendered classic by the genius of Sir Walter Scott in " Waverley," probably
suffered more by this scourge than any other locality in the district. These evictions
were the work of John, second Marquis of Breadalbane, who died at Lausanne in
1862, and his factor, Wyllie, a name, speaking from experience, that is redolent of
unhallowed memories to the honest, well-to-do Breadalbane settlers in Canada.]
I well remember when this lonely glen
Was thickly peopled with a race of men
Whose sires from foe were never known to turn,
Who fought and won with Bruce at Bannockburn ;
(Alas, at Flodden and Culloden too !)
In Egypt, India, Spain, at Waterloo,
Or wheresoe'er their country called them forth,
Aye ready were the brave sons of the North ;
Their gallant deeds will never cease to be
The brightest page in British history.
Forgotten this to their descendants dear,
Harsh rule their lot and cruelties severe ;
Alas ! from homes their father's swords had won,
Were driven forth from much-loved Caledon,
From all held sacred forced like brutes away,
The young, the stalwart, and the old and gray,
By lordling's whim and crafty factor's sway.
Evicted thus were Albyn's sons of fame,
Their lands are teeming now with sheep and game !
How sad and lonesome this once happy glen,
Where, oh Glenquaich ! have gone thy gallant men ?
Doomed on whom falls the heartless factor's frown,
Oh, God, arise and crush such tyrants down !
v v DUNCAN MACGREGOR CRERAR.
^ew \ork.
301
THE HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS.
By the EDITOR.
V.
XIII. EWEN CAMERON, was called " Eoghainn Beag " to
distinguish him from his grandfather, Eoghainn MacAilein, who,
as we have seen in our last chapter, outlived Donald, his eldest
son (Eoghainn Beag's father), for many years. Eoghainn Beag,
in consequence, succeeded his grandfather as thirteenth chief of
the clan, but nothing is known of his short and apparently un-
eventful career, except the manner in which he met his death in
early life. When quite a young man he became acquainted with
a daughter of Macdougall of Lome, by whom he had a son,
" Domhnull MacEoghainn Bhig," better known as " Taillear
Dubh na Tuaighe," afterwards one of the most celebrated
warriors of the clan, and whose career was well described by
Mrs Mary Mackellar in our last issue.
The cause and manner of the death of the chief is thus de-
scribed : — "Being in his younger years much enamoured of a
daughter of the Laird of Macdougall, he found the lady so 'com-
plisant' that she fell with child to him. Her father dissembled
his resentment and artfully drew Lochiel to a communing in Is-
land-na-Cloiche, where, having previously concealed a party of
men, he made him his prisoner, upon his refusing to marry her,
and shut him up in the Castle of Inch-Connel, in Lochow, a
freshwater lake, at a good distance from Lochaber, to which his
friends could not have easy access, on account of the difficulty of
providing themselves with boats. As soon as the news came to
Lochaber, his clan resolved to hazard all for his relief, and, hav-
ing made the necessary preparations, his foster-father, Martin
MacDhonnachaidh of Letter-Finlay, chief of the MacMartins,
an ancient and numerous tribe of the Camerons, put himself at
the head of a numerous party, and soon made himself master of
the castle. Lochiel was then playing at cards with his keeper or
governor, named Mac Arthur, and was so overjoyed at his ap-
proaching delivery, that, observing him much alarmed at the
302 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
noise made by the assailants, he over-hastily discovered the de-
sign for which he paid dear. For the villain [MacArthur,] to
satisfy his own and his master's resentment, immediately ex-
tinguished the lights, and thrusting his dirk or poniard below the
table, which stood between them, wounded him in the belly.
His deliverers, in the meantime, rushing into his apartment,
carried him to their boats, where, the night being cold, he called
for an oar to heat himself with exercise, but upon stretching his
body, he became first sensible of his wound, which soon after
proved mortal. His party having landed and put him to bed re-
turned to the castle, and, in revenge of his death, dispatched Mac-
Arthur and all the men that were with him." * Ewen Beag and
his followers refused to attend a Royal Court held at Inverness in
1552, when a commission was granted to the Earls of Huntly and
Argyll against the Camerons and the Macdonalds of Clanranald,
who proceeded to Lochaber against them, but the result is in-
volved in obscurity. Ewen died about this time; but whether
he was captured and executed under Huntly's commission, has
not been ascertained. It is, however, placed beyond dispute that
he must have died before 1554, for in that year Queen Mary
granted to George, Earl of Huntly and Murray, the nonentry
dues of all the lands belonging to " the deceased Ewin Camroun,
alias Littil Ewin, Captain of the Clancamroun, and also the mar-
riage of his brother and heir, Donald Dow, or other lawful heir."f
Leaving no legitimate issue, he was succeeded by his brother,
XIV. DONALD CAMERON, commonly known as " Domhnull
Dubh Mac Dhomhnuill," who is found on record in 1 564. In that
year Queen Mary granted to "Donald Cameroun, the son and
heir of the deceased Donald Cameroun or Alansoun of Locheill,
the five pennylands, called Lettirfinlay, of the old extent of 403. ;
the five pennylands, called Stronnabaw, of the same old extent ;
and the five pennylands of Lindalie, of the old extent of 505., all
of which were formerly held by them of the deceased George, Earl
of Huntlie, by whom the lands were forfeited.''^ The Earl of
Huntly had been convicted and forfeited for high treason in the
previous year for his opposition to the Queen during her visit to
Inverness. On that occasion Donald Cameron of Lochiel joined
* Memoirs of Lochiel, pp. 33-34. f Origines Parochiaks Scotiae.
%0rigines Parochiaks Scotiae^ Vol. ii., Part ii., p. 177,
HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS. 303
her Majesty against the forces of the rebellious Earl, arriving
too late to meet her at Inverness, but just in time to take a part
with his followers in the battle of Corrichy. His lands had been
forfeited with those of the Earl, who was Lochiel's superior, but
on application they were restored as a reward for his personal
loyalty on this occasion, and the faithful services previously
rendered by him since he had assumed the chiefship of his clan.
The charter differed from the previous one, insomuch that it was
changed from a blench few into a ward, but, according to the
family chronicler, ennobled with all the immunities and privileges
that the Earl and his predecessors formerly enjoyed.
Donald was murdered, during a violent dispute that broke out
among the clan towards the end of Queen Mary's reign, by some
of his own kinsmen, the chief instruments of his death being his
uncles, Ewen, progenitor of the Camerons of Erracht; and John,
the founder of the family of Kinlochiel, both younger sons of
Ewen Allanson, twelfth chief, who was executed, as we have al-
ready seen, with Donald Glas Macdonald of Keppoch, at Elgin,
in 1547*
According to the " Memoirs," he was married to a daughter
of the Laird of Maclean, by whom he had a posthumous son,
who succeeded his father. Here the author of the " Memoirs" is
undoubtedly in error. If this Donald Dubh was really married,
he does not appear to have left any issue. And, according to all
the authorities, as well as the current traditions of the country, he
was succeeded as chief by his infant nephew, son of Ian Dubh or
Black John, a third son of Donald, the eldest son of Ewen Allan-
son, twelfth chief, by Anne Grant of Grant. This young chief
was
XV. ALLAN CAMERON, generally described in contemporary
records as Alan " Mac Ian Duibh," but sometimes as Alan " Mac
Dhomhnuill Duibh," the latter applied to him, it seems, as the pat-
ronymic of the clan. This will account for the error into which
the author of the " Memoirs " has fallen in calling him the son of
" Donald Dubh," his predecessor in the chiefship, while in point
of fact he was Donald's nephew, and direct progenitor of the pre-
sent head of the house of Lochiel. His granduncles, Erracht and
Kinlochiel, took possession of the estate, on the pretence that
* See p. 156, where the progenitor of Erracht is erroneously called Donald.
3o4 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
they were acting as Allan's natural guardians, but it was
feared by the more immediate friends of the young chief
that his life was not safe from his grasping relatives if he
should remain in Lochaber. They, therefore, had him re-
moved to Mull, to be brought up and cared for under the
charge of his mother's relations, the Macleans of Duart. During
his absence the clan was governed by his uncles, but Gregory
informs us that, they having made themselves obnoxious by
their insolence and tyranny, Donald Mac Eoghainn Bhig, "the
bastard son of a former chief," was brought forward by a party
in the clan to oppose them. The Laird of Mackintosh, taking
advantage of these dissensions, invaded the Cameron territory,
and forced Erracht and Kinlochiel to enter into a treaty regard-
ing the disputed lands of Glenluy and Locharkaig, which was
considered very disadvantageous to the Camerons ; and the feel-
ing displayed by the clan when the terms of this treaty became
known was so strong that the uncles, who entered into it, were
compelled to repudiate it, and to prepare at once for an immediate
attack on the Mackintoshes. To strengthen themselves in the
expedition against Clan Chattan, they attempted a reconciliation
with Donald Mac Eoghainn, better known as " Taillear Dubh na
Tuaighe," and arranged a meeting with him and some of his
followers at the Castle of Inverlochy, where Ewen of Erracht was
murdered by some of Donald's followers, and John of Kinlochiel
was compelled to leave the district ; but the latter was afterwards
apprehended by the Earl of Argyll, at the instance of Donald
the Bastard, and executed at the Castle of Dunstaffnage. Allan
of Lochiel was then called home, when, induced by false reports
of evil intentions alleged to be entertained towards him by
Donald Mac Eoghainn, he consented to have him put to death,*
an act so strongly resented by the clan, with whom Donald was a
great favourite, that Allan himself was obliged to leave Lochaber
for a time, until, while resident in Appin, he nearly lost his life
in a local broil, the clan invited him home, and, about the year
1585, he again assumed command of his clan.f
* Allan was told on his return that not only was Donald Mac Eoghainn Bhig re-
sponsible for the death of Allan's uncles, but that he was guilty of the more criminal
design of depriving Allan himself of his life and fortune, " upon pretence that he
. was no bastard, but the son of a lawful marriage."
t Gregory, Highlands and Isles, pp, 228-229.
HISTORY OF THE CAMERON'S. 305
When Allan first returned to Lochaber he was about seven-
teen years of age. The broil which had nearly cost him his life in
Appin is thus described at length in the " Memoirs :" — " The Laird
of Glenurchy, predecessor to the Earl of Breadalbane, chosing to
hold a Baron court in that neighbourhood, Lochiel went thither
to divert himself, and there, accidentally meeting with one Mac-
dougall of Fairlochine, a near relation of the bastard, he challenged
him upon some unmannerly expressions which he had formerly
dropped against him with relation to that gentleman's death.
But Macdougall, instead of excusing himself, gave such a rude
answer as provoked Lochiel to make a blow at him with his
sword, and some of the bye-standers, willing to prevent the con-
sequences, seized and held him [Lochiel] fast. While he made a
most violent struggle to get loose, one of his servants, happening
to come up at the same time, fancied that he was apprehended by
Glenurchy's orders, whom he foolishly suspected to have designs
upon his life. This put the fellow into such a rage that he had
not patience to examine into the matter ; but, encountering with
Archibald, Glenurchy's eldest son, whom the noise of the bustle had
drawn thither in that unlucky juncture, he barbarously plunged
his dagger into his heart. The multitude, upon this, turned their
swords against the unhappy fellow, but he, with his dirk in the one
hand, and his sword in the other, defended himself with that in-
credible valour, that it is likely he would have escaped by the
favour of approaching night, if he had not, as he retreated back-
ward, stumbled upon a plough that took him behind and brought
him to the ground, where he was cut to pieces. No sooner had
the enraged multitude dispatched the servant than they furiously
rushed upon the master, who, though he received several wounds,
had the good fortune, after a vigorous and gallant defence, to
make his escape, wherein he was much assisted by the darkness
of the night, which covered his retreat. The news of this, and
several other adventures, made his clan impatient to have him
among them. All their divisions were now at an end, and their
chief was of sufficient age and capacity to manage his own affairs,
so that he was welcomed to Lochaber with universal joy."
Allan was a brave chief. He made several raids into the
Mackintosh country, carrying away with him large booties on
those occasions. In the quarrels which then raged so hotly
between the Earls of Moray and Huntly, Lochiel joined the
306 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
latter, and guarded the Castle of Ruthven for Huntly, while he
attempted unsuccessfully to repair it. This involved Lochiel in
constant feuds and sanguinary conflicts with the Mackintoshes,
but he generally succeeded in getting the best of them, and was
often able to carry a rich spoil from the enemy's country to his
own.
In a letter by Robert Bowes to Lord Burleigh, dated the 23rd
of September 1591, describing what the king, who was then
at Perth, was doing, he mentions, among other things, his
Majesty's attempt to appease the quarrels and slaughters which
then daily occurred between the Earl of Huntly and the lairds
of Grant and Mackintosh, with others, in which the lairds of
Lochaber and Cameron had " killed XLI. of Macintoyshes men,
and XXIII. tennants of Grant, and hurt the Larde of Balen-
dalough." Soon after this Lochiel again defeated the Mackin-
toshes on their own lands of Badenoch, with a loss of fifty men.
An indenture was entered into between Huntly and Allan
Cameron of Lochiel, dated 6th of March 1590-1, by which the
latter became bound to assist Huntly against all his enemies,
particularly the Mackintoshes and Grants ; while the Earl, on the
other hand, engaged to reward Allan to his entire satisfaction,
and promised him that he should enter into no agreement with
his own opponents which did not also include Lochiel. In terms
of this agreement, Allan Cameron fought with Huntly at the
battle of Glenlivet, in 1594, where, at the head of a few of his
clan, he performed signal service against his old enemies, the
Mackintoshes, whom " he defeated, and pursued with great eager-
ness, and did Huntly such services as merited a different reward
from that which he afterwards got," an account of which, with the
remaining portion of Allan's career, must be held over for our
next.
(To be continued.)
NEW GAELIC PUBLICATION.— Mr Neil Macleod, one of the best and
sweetest of living Gaelic bards, has a selection of his Poems and Songs in the press,
under the title of "Clarsach an Doire." The work will be issued immediately by
Messrs Maclachlan & Stewart, Edinburgh, and A. & W. Mackenzie, Celtic Magazine
Office, Inverness.
307
THE GLENDALE CROFTERS.
THE result of the trial of the Glendale crofters has been in strict accord with the
expectations of all who have studied the long and sorrowful story of which this is the
latest chapter. The Judges are obliged to act upon statutes framed by a class in their
own interests ; and in the present instance it was hardly possible for them to be more
lenient than they have been. It is beyond their Lordships' province to rise to the
region of equity; and the administrators of the law in Scotland have never been known
to violate its letter, except, perhaps, where they had to deal with a statute passed in the
interest of tempei'ance or to give the farmer a title to destroy the rabbits feeding upon
his crops. Then, as in that queer case from Kelso the other day, the statute is apt to
kick the beam in the interest of the public-house ; and nobody needs to be told how
the Court of Session drove more than the proverbial coach-and-six through the
Rabbits Bill, and made of no account the law that had been newly enacted at West-
minster for the protection of the farmer. All these things are duly noted by the
public, and the sentence passed on the crofters has this moral disadvantage attaching
to it that nobody thinks any the worse of the poor men who are now in prison. They
were loudly cheered as they left the dock ; their families will be well seen to— in spite
of the Scotsmatfs sneers at their friends — while they remain in custody ; and they will
be certain to get a warm welcome from the public when the day of liberation arrives.
It does not seem to be a desirable thing that the moral sense of the community
should be excited in favour of men who have been sent to jail. Either that moral
sense or the law with which it conflicts must be defective. In the present case we do
not believe that the feeling of the community can be said to be at fault. If any one
wishes to become fully acquainted with the facts that account for the feeling, let him pro-
cure the handsome volume that has just been issued under the title of "The History of
the Highland Clearances."* Its author, Mr A. Mackenzie, F.S.A. Scot., who fills
the office of Dean of Guild at Inverness, is singled out, along with Professor Blackie,
by the Edinburgh organ of the Parliament House and the Whig oligarchy for
special reprobation. Our contemporary, in its impression of yesterday, assails him
with great violence and in language which strikes us as perilously near libel. It
says he is responsible for putting the Glendale men in prison, and that he will
leave them to pay the penalty now that they are reaping the fruit of the advice
that he and his friends have given. Mr Mackenzie will probably never dream
of making legal reprisals upon his culminator ; nor has he the slightest occasion
to be ashamed of the work for which he is so bitterly abused by the Scotsman.
He has the satisfaction of knowing that his efforts to deliver the crofters from that
condition of poverty to which they have been reduced by a system of legalised spolia-
tion and robbery have not been in vain, and that they are now on the eve of leading
to most important results. It is this fact, doubtless, that explains the increasing
acerbity of the organ of the so-called political economists and of the legal pedants at
Edinburgh. It is terribly annoyed to see a Royal Commission granted, and still
more, perhaps, to discover that in spite of all its prophesying the people of this country
have arrived at the decided conclusion that the crofters are the victims of a huge in-
justice, and that their grievous wrongs must be redressed. Mr Mackenzie's book
places it beyond all doubt that, when they have not been cruelly evicted after the
gentle manner of the Sutherland Clearances, where the mother in childbed and the
Published at the office of the Celtic Magazine in Inverness, by Messrs A. & W. Mackenzie.
3o8 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
aged grandparents unable to rise from their chairs have been lifted out on to the road-
side, while the dwelling in which they had spent their life was reduced before their
eyes to ashes, the Highland peasantry have been systematically deprived of the graz-
ing ground, without which it was impossible for them to make a comfortable living.
In this way a pretext has been manufactured for the lying allegation that their country
is not able to support them, and that the only alternative is expatriation. This is the
grand outstanding fact illustrated on every page of the record. The poor people have
been driven from the good ground on which they made a good living to bad ground
on which nobody could live ; they have been ousted from their peaceful glens and
thrown like weeds upon the sea-shore ; and then overcrowding has been urged as an
excuse for the process of depopulation. The entire system is one worthier of despotic
Russia than of constitutional Britain. It makes our blood run cold to read of the
enormities that have been perpetrated, which the law has ever been ready to screen,
and the Scotsman to vindicate with its pretentious philosophy and its affected reverence
for a law to which it has always rendered abject submission except when it was
mulcted in damages for defaming Mr Duncan M'Laren. In that case it took leave to
speak of the law in terms which it would no doubt deem most flagitious were they em-
ployed by the Glendale crofters to-day. We observe that Mr Mackenzie has been
called to account by Mr Thomas Sellar, a son of the Duke of Sutherland's old factor,
for reprinting what Donald Macleod wrote in his " Gloomy Memories " about Mr
Sellar's case. We cannot help thinking that Mr Thomas Sellar has been ill-advised.
He may make matters worse so far as his family name is concerned ; we do not see
how he will be able to improve them. Mr Mackenzie has taken the proper course.
He will immediately issue a reprint of the full report of Sellar's trial, which took place
in 1816. This will give the public an opportunity of judging the whole question foi
themselves. The report has become so rare that it is scarcely possible to procure a
copy of it. The surviving friends of Mr Mackid have no reason to regret the resurrec-
tion of this trial. It will throw a lurid light on the story of the Highland evictions ;
and it will probably do a public good by intensifying the determination of the public
that the impending inquiry must be a reality and not a sham. — Leader, Greenock
Telegraph,
THE GLENDALE CROFTERS.— The Glendale Crofters, as is well known,
were convicted of a technical Contempt of Court for Breach of Interdict— the Judges
dealing with the law and the facts in their own case— and sentenced to two months
imprisonment. The Editor of the Celtic Magazine visited them in Calton Prison,
Edinburgh, on the 6th of April, and intimated to them, as he had done at a meeting
of friends on the previous evening in the Royal Hotel, Edinburgh, that he had
succeeded in collecting a sum of £20 among Inverness friends to aid in the mainten-
ance of themselves and families during their incarceration. The men expressed
themselves extremely grateful for the interest taken by outsiders in their case, and
requested Mr Mackenzie to intimate to their friends that they are more comfortable in
prison than they could have possibly anticipated ; that every official was as considerate
as the regulations would allow ; and that they had not-hing but good to say of everyone
connected with the prison. They were all in the same room, and were provided with
the best bedding and a fire, while their food was regularly sent in to them three times
a day from a restaurant. They asked Mr Mackenzie to request their friends at home
not to commit any act which would bring odium on those who sympathised with them
outside, and that they should keep strictly within the law. John Morrison— the eldest
of the three — had been complaining, but he was fast recovering, and the others were in
excellent health and spirits. Believing as they did that the circumstance was not
accidental, they were much delighted at the enlivenment of their evenings by frequently
hearing the bagpipes in the neighbourhood playing familiar airs, an arrangement by
their Edinburgh friends of a remarkably considerate and delicate nature.
309
THE ETHICS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY.
IV.— WHAT is RENT ?— -(Continued.)
THE appearance of Mr George's book, " Progress and Poverty,"
marks an era in the development of thought on the subject of
land in English-speaking countries, not on account of any scientific
merit which it possesses, but because it appeals most powerfully
to an already awakened public conscience, roused into activity
by a sense of injustice and inequality, which could only arise by
the existence of privilege and unequal laws. This feeling is not
confined to countries like the United Kingdom and India, with
their teeming populations ; but it also extends to the United
States, the Dominion of Canada, and the Australian Colonies.
Only for its wide circulation, and for the large share of the
public attention which his book has commanded, it would be
hardly necessary to notice Mr George's discussion of what he calls
" The laws of distribution," but as rent forms the main subject, or
problem, of which he professes to have given a scientific solution,
I shall make a brief digression in order to show how completely
he fails to explain the phenomenon of natural rent, and how an
adherence to Ricardo's theory seems to have mystified him, and
led him to a dangerous conclusion.
I may remind the reader that, in a former paper, I pointed
out how the landlord, as such, could not find a place in my class-
ification of values, nor in an equation of justice according to
Aristotle's formula of distribution. For the same reason, as I
shall subsequently show, natural rent cannot become a term in
proportionals, but, strange to say, Mr George not only gives a
law of rent, but he makes it also a term in his laivs of distribu-
tion, while he finishes up by proposing its confiscation.
To any one who has a proper conception of what law is,
especially natural law, it must appear evident that the reason for
confiscation is that a thing is unlawful. This inconsistency of
reason, or argument, is hardly more remarkable than Mr George's
method of dealing with profit and interest : —
"Thus, neither in its common meaning, nor in the meaning expressly assigned to it
in the current political economy, can profits have any place in the discussion of the
U
3IO THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
distribution of wealth between the three factors of production. Either in its common
meaning, or in the meaning expressly assigned to it, to talk about the distribution of
wealth into rent, wages, and profits, is like talking of the division of mankind into
men, women, and human beings." [Shakespeare divided mankind into men, women,
and children.]
"Yet, this, to the utter bewilderment of the reader, is what is done in all the
standard works.' After formally decomposing profits into wages of superintendence,
compensation for risk and interest— the net return for the use of capital— they proceed
to treat of the distribution of wealth between the rent of land, the wages of labour, and
the profits of capital.
" I doubt not that there are thousands of men who have vainly puzzled their
brains over this confusion of terms, and abandoned the effort in despair, thinking that
as the fault could not be in such great thinkers, it must be in their own stupidity.
If it is any consolation to such men they may turn to Buckle's ' History of Civilisa-
tion,' and see how a man who certainly got a marvelously clear idea of what he read,
and who read carefully the principal economists, from Smith down, was inextricably
confused by this jumble of profits and interest. For Buckle (vol. I., chap. II., and
notes), persistently speaks of the distribution of wealth into rent, wages, interest,
and profits."
In my last article, I quoted in full the passage referred to,
chiefly with a view to point out that Ricardo's theory is the bone
of contention. Buckle does not mention interest as a term, for
the very good reason that he regarded, like all others, interest to
be included under the more general and comprehensive term,
profit. The gist of the passage is expressed in the following
sentence : —
" The great law of the ratio between the cost of labour and the profits of stock,
is the highest generalisation we have reached respecting the distribution of wealth, but
it cannot be consistently admitted by any one who holds that rent enters into price. "
But, to show further how grossly Mr George misrepresents
Buckle, who appears to have been as clear upon the subject of
which he treats as Mr George is confused, I shall give one more
quotation. In the third volume, p. 336, he says :—
" But what is more remarkable still, is, that their author (Hume,) subsequently
detected the fundamental error which Adam Smith committed, and which vitiates
many of his conclusions. The error consists in his -having resolved price into three
components, namely, wages, profit, and rent, whereas it is known that price is a corn-
id of wages and profit, and that rent is not an element of it. This discovery is the
•stone of political economy ; but it is established by an argument so long and
ied that most minds are unable to pursue it without stumbling, and the majority
of those who acquiesce in it are influenced by the great writers to whom they pay
rence, and whose judgment they follow."
It must be clear to everyone that the ratio must be between
wages and profit, and not between wages and interest, Even if
ETHICS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. 311
Mr George could change the terminology of political economy,
he cannot alter our ordinary apprehension of things. To substi-
tute the word interest for the word profit will not make business
men keep their books differently, or make us believe that two
things which are essentially different in their operations can be
otherwise described than under their proper names. Interest, as
everyone knows, is what is paid for the use of money, and the
ordinary rate in every country depends on the average rate of
profits. We can even conceive of wealth to become so abund-
ant, and so generally diffused among all classes in a country, as
to render borrowing unnecessary for productive purposes, and
yet there would be profits, and a ratio between wages and profits.
The author of " Progress and Poverty " devotes eight chap-
ters to the discussion of what he terms the " Laws of Distribu-
tion," and professes to propound a law of wages, a law of interest,
and a law of rent, and to crown these with a geometrical cer-
tainty he devotes a chapter to the "correlation and co-ordination
of these laws."
"The laws of the distribution of wealth are obviously laws of proportion, and
must be so related to each other that any two being given, the third may be inferred."
As an example of this law of proportion, he says : —
"To fix Dick's share at 40 per cent., and Harry's share at 35 per cent., is to fix
Tom's share at 25 per cent."
Proportion is a ride of ratios, and on this side of the Atlantic
there are usually three terms given in order to ascertain a fourth.
We do not say, as 40 is to 35, so is 25 to the whole, because that
would be absurd. If the produce be divided in three shares it is
no longer a question of ratio. But Mr George himself, conscious
that there was something wrong, remarks : — "In truth, the prim-
ary division of wealth is dual, not tripartite'' Then, as the Rule of
Three does not fit in with the argument, this new light on economic
science is to be explained by a tripartite proportional !
But the cause of Mr George's confusion is, I think, to be ex-
plained on the supposition that he mistakes the properties of
a triangle for the properties of proportionals, and, perhaps, this
is the reason why he adopts the term tripartite. Now, we know
that the three angles of any triangle, taken together, are equal to
two right angles ; and that, two angles being given, we know the
remaining angle ; or, one angle being given, we know the sum
3,2 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
of the other two angles. So, in like manner, if we know Tom's
and Dick's shares we know Harry's ; or, if we know Tom's share
we know the sum of Dick's and Harry's.
What is this but to say what Adam Smith said, namely, that
the price of produce was divided between wages, profit, and rent?
But the generalisation to which Buckle refers, as the most
advanced step in political economy, is a ratio between wages and
profits of which rent does not form a component part. This
fact is of the highest significance, but it cannot be explained on
Ricardo's materialistic theory of rent arising from a resort to lower
gradations of soil, upon which Mr George depends for his deduc-
tions. Although this is not the place to discuss it, I may so far
anticipate as to suggest that the converse of this theory is the
true one. Rent, or that increase of value of the superficies which
accrues to the landlord over and above the labour bestowed upon
the ameliorations, arises from the increase of population, and from
this greater density of population there is a residuum, arising
from the conjoint action of society, which reverts on the land,
over and above the average remuneration of individual labour.
This evidently does not enter into price, nor fall a burden upon
anyone. Therefore, the increase in the value of the superficies of
land evidently follows a law of increase of population, as we
clearly see in the growth of towns, and this increase graduates from
a focus, or centre — being highest where the pressure is greatest—
and diminishes outward as the squares of the distances increase.
This applies to agricultural land as well, for land in the vicinity
of large towns bring a higher rent than those at a greater distance
of the same quality. We also find that with the increase and
greater density of population, there is a corresponding increase
in the expenses of the government of society, both municipal and
imperial. Then this phenomenon of increasing rent, which ac-
crues to the landlord, and does not enter into price, acquires over-
whelming significance, inasmuch at it points to a law of design
in connection with human society in a state of civilised organi-
zation, in the pursuit of peaceful industry; for the Great Designer,
who placed the coal and iron, the silver and gold, and all other
ities in the earth, in their due proportions, would seem to have
>rovided a fund for the revenue of the Soverign for the civil and
moral government of man, whilst leaving to each individual
workman the full fruits of his own labour. Such a law of increase
i
ETHICS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. 313
would seem to form a connecting link, as it were, between the
moral and physical world.
Taking this view of the subject, it will be easily seen that
this residuum could not form a term in proportionals or follow a
law of distribution, and I have already shown that the theory of
gradations of soil is not true in fact, even in respect of agri-
cultural land, whilst it leads to the pernicious conclusion that
value resides in materiality apart from human labour. This
belief has vitiated Mr George's argument, and led him to a
dangerous conclusion.
Having so far indicated my own line of thought, I shall now
proceed to examine briefly the manner in which he formulates
his laws of distribution.
It has already been pointed out that Mr George has com-
pletely misapprehended the idea of ratio, as explained by Buckle,
and the way in which he regards profits and interest shows a
want of familiarity with commercial pursuits.
"The harmony and correlation of the laws of distribution, as we have now appre-
hended them, are in striking contrast with the want of harmony which characterises
these laws as presented by the current political economy."
Then he contrasts, in tabulated form, what he makes out to be the
current statement with " the true statement," which latter, it is
needless to say, is his own, and with the discussion of which I
am for the present only concerned.
"Rent depends on the margin of cultivation— rising as it falls, and falling as it
rises.
" Wages depend on the margin of cultivation— falling as it falls, and rising as it
rises.
" Interest (its ratio with wages being fixed by the net power of increase which
attaches to capital) depends on the margin of cultivation— falling as it falls, and rising
as it rises."
" In the current statement the laws of distribution have no common centre, no
mutual relation ; they are not the correlating divisions of a whole, but measures of
different quality. In the statement we have given, they spring from one point, support
and supplement each other, and form the correlating division of a complete whole."
In the name of science, and under cover of misapplied and
delusive words, more incoherent nonsense was never pawned
upon an intelligent public. What is the common centre of this
tripartite proportional ? The gradations of soil, it should seem,
must now become " the margin of cultivation," and Mr George
includes in this margin of cultivation the ground rent of rapidly
increasing towns in the West.
3,4 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
To show the flimsy artifice of substituting interest for profit
it is only necessary to call attention to the enclosed qualification
of " its ratio with wages being fixed by the net power of increase
which attaches to capital." What is the power of increase, but
profit ? But apart from verbal criticism, I deny that rent depends
on the margin of cultivation anywhere, and assert that increase
of rent everywhere depends on the increase of population. I deny
that wages (actual) depend on the margin of cultivation, and
assert that they depend upon freedom of labour in a state of
development of industry and the proportion of labourers to the
amount of work required. I deny that interest correlates and co-
ordinates with rent. Interest, in every country, depends upon,
and is an index of, the average rate of profits. To say that rent
rises as wages fall is not true, because both rent and wages have
been rising together in the United Kingdom, although not in the
same ratio. To say that rent rises as interest falls is true, but it
is evident that this depends upon increase of population and in-
crease of wealth, and not upon " the margin of cultivation," for
that margin has been stationary whilst rents were rising and
interest falling. There may be a coincidence, but the cause
assigned is an inversion of the truth. However, if the " laws of
distribution," as defined by Mr George, " spring from one point
(let us suppose it to be the margin of cultivation, or rent) support
and supplement each other in harmonious correlation and co-
ordination, what more do we want ? What must strike everyone
as strange is, that after constructing this harmonious, tripartite
law of distribution, Mr George should proceed to confiscate one
of the sides which spring from one point, supplement and support^
and correlate and co-ordinate with, one another : —
" I do not propose either to purchase or to confiscate private property in land.
The first would be unjust ; the second, needless. Let the individuals who now hold
it still retain, if they want to, possession of what they are pleased to call their land.
Let them continue to call it their land. Let them buy and sell, and bequeath and de-
vise it. We may safely leave them the shell, if we take the kernel. It is not necessary
to confiscate land, it is only necessary to confiscate rent.
"What I therefore propose as the simple, yet sovereign remedy, which will
taise wages, increase the earnings of capital, extirpate pauperism, abolish poverty,
remunerative employment to whoever wishes it, afford free scope to human
powers, lessen crime, elevate morals and taste and intelligence, purify government,
1 carry civilisation to yet nobler heights, is-/<? appropriate rent by taxation." •
The confiscation of rent is a much simpler "law of distribu-
ETHICS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. 315
tion " than to find a ratio in a tripartite proportional, but it has
the disadvantage of being attended with great practical diffi-
culties.
It would, however, be ungenerous not to admit that Mr
George's book contains expositions on population, on wealth, on
labour and capital which are original and striking, whilst, by
his eloquence, he has made a subject of more than ordinary dry-
ness to general readers one of absorbing interest, and has thus
contributed to its discussion by the working classes, who are
more deeply affected by existing abuses of power than any other.
The evil does not consist, however, as Mr George leads the
reader to suppose, in any inequality in the incidence of taxation,
nor yet in any supposed virtue in the inherent qualities of the soil,
so much as in moral causes — the restraints upon human freedom,
and the infraction of an evident law of nature, by the operation of
a vicious principle.
To the mind of the humblest workman who reads these
pages, the idea of confiscation must appear unjust, and he must
regard with repugnance a measure of state which, to say the
least of it, would involve the innocent with the guilty. To con-
fiscate conveys the idea of punishment, and to my mind it would
be as just to confiscate 3 per cent, consols as the rent of persons
who came by property through the operation of national law.
In respect of agricultural land, the labour that has been incor-
porated with it in reclaiming it from forest, flood, and marsh,
may be regarded as the kernel, and the solum is more like the
shell. To suppose that a fiscal revolution, which should appro-
priate that part of rent which forms the scientific difficulty of
political economists, in lieu of other taxes, would effect such a
social millenium as Mr George pictures in his glowing style is
quite illusory, /or it would net amount to probably more than
ten shillings per head of the whole population,, as tithes and
other local taxes which now fall on the land, would have to be
paid out of the imperial exchequer. Yet it must be allowed that
such a reform in our fiscal system, brought about by gradual
steps, would have great advantages ; but, under the present dual
tenure, such a change would only tend to aggravate the evil, as
the cause lies deeper, and is more insidious than any burden of
taxation.
It is, therefore, not to the confiscation of rent, or to its appro-
3,6 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
priation by taxation, that we must look for a remedy. We must
rather look for it in the enjoyment of perfect freedom and justice.
By the divorcement of all ethical considerations from political
economy it has been turned into the worship of Moloch and the
philosophy of the devil— the aim and definition of which is con-
fusion of thought and action. Freedom first and political economy
after. It is not the confiscation of rent by the State, but its
proscription, demanded by the united voice of a free people, as an
elemen of tyranny and oppression, which displaces population,
saps our industries and enables landlords to live as idle parasites
upon the labour and capital of others. The right of usuriously
lending land ought not to be delegated by the State to any
private subject Land, being natural power, this privilege con-
fers sovereign right upon the subject, by which he is enabled to
extend his bounds, from a lust of power, in order that he may
exercise tyranny and oppression. The exercise of such a right
is incompatible with the enjoyment of perfect freedom, the want
of which, in all countries, and in all ages of the world, has been
the fruitful cause of oppression, poverty, and crime, producing
wars, revolutions, anarchy, and bloodshed.
Fortunately for England, her freehold system preserved her
from the fate of less favoured nations, but she herself is now
suffering in her agricultural industry, aye, and in the political in-
dependence of her farmers, through the operation of class-made
laws, by which freeholds have been engrossed into large estates, not
for legitimate industry, but to gratify a vulgar passion for power.
To my ears, and no doubt to the ears of all lovers of constitutional
liberty, that fine expressive old English word freehold possess a
charm ; and it is to be regretted that Dr Russell Wallace has not
used the words "resumption" and "freeholder" instead of "Na-
tionalisation" and " occupying owner." The gradual resumption
of the land-tax (which is synonymous with the rent of political
economy), and the prohibition to lease or sub-let land would
meet all the requirements of perfect freedom and justice. Thus
far, but very little further, every friend of progress, every good
citizen, every man who is in sympathy with the rights of labour,
ought cordially to support, and to canvas at every hustings, the
programme of the Nationalisation Society.
Guernsey. MALCOLM MACKENZIE.
THE CROFTER ROYAL COMMISSION.
REFERRING in our last issue to the fact that not a single Northern
Member of Parliament signed the requisition presented to
Government, asking for a Royal Commission of Inquiry into
the grievances of the Highland crofters, we wrote : — " If any
proof were wanted that inquiry was looked forward to by the
northern landlords with disfavour, and, in some instances, with
dismay — though they feel that it has now become necessary —
it would be found in this significant fact. It should also con-
vince the Government of the necessity of making the Royal
Commission really effective by placing Tnen upon it who will
counteract the landlord opposition and aristocratic influence,
which will certainly have to be met in the course of the inquiry
on every point where the facts are likely to tell against the land-
lords and their agents. Unless the other side is strongly repre-
sented, so as to meet, on something like equal grounds, the power,
wealth, and influence of those whose conduct has made this
inquiry necessary, the Royal Commission had better never to
have been granted. It will only prove the commencement in
earnest of an agitation on the Land Question, the end of which
no one can predict." We are still of the same opinion, and the
sequel will assuredly prove that we were right in our predictions.
But how have the Government acted? They have appointed
a Commission which has been universally condemned by every
Association, every individual, and by almost every newspaper
throughout the country that advocated its appointment. In that
condemnation, after the most full and careful consideration, and
fully alive to the serious responsibility involved in such a step,
we are compelled to join; and we do so with the greater reluct-
ance from the high respect which we entertain for all the members
of the Commission as individuals, apart from the duties which in
this case they have been called upon to perform. Nothing will
satisfy the public short of making the cruel evictions of the past
impossible in future in the Highlands by giving the people a per-
manent interest in the soil they cultivate. That a recommenda-
tion to that effect can emanate from a Royal Commission com-
3I8 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
posed as this one is, is scarcely conceivable. Nor is it to be expected
that they can rise so far above the common failings of humanity as
to be very anxious to procure evidence which will lead to legislation
in that direction. Are Sir Kenneth Mackenzie and Lochiel, for in-
stance, at all likely to recommend the modification of their pre-
sent rights of property, or the abolition or material curtailment
of deer forests, from which they and their class derive a great
portion of their revenues? If they do so they will prove them-
selves more than human. But no one would complain if their
position and interests as proprietors were counter-balanced on the
Commission by the presence of such true representatives of the
crofters, as Sir Kenneth, Lochiel, and the Chairman are of the
landlords and their class interests.
If any evidence were wanted to place it beyond question
that the Commission was one-sided and antagonistic to the inter-
ests and claims of the crofters, it would be found in the fact that
its composition has been generally commended and approved by
the Scotsman, the Northern Chronicle, and the Inverness, Courier,
three newspapers whose position in the past has been one of
strong and long-sustained antagonism and misrepresentation of
the Highland peasantry, and, at the same time, of powerful and
steady support of their oppressors and their cruel conduct.
As if the approval of these three landlord organs, and the
general disapproval by actual condemnation in distinct terms, or
complete silence, of all the other newspapers in the country, were
not sufficient, we find another distinguished authority, on the
same side, Mr Donald Macdonald, Tormore— whose factorial
reign in the Isle of Skye, and especially in Glendale, had so much
to do in finally securing for us the Commission of Inquiry— declar-
ing in a letter, published in the Northern Chronicle, and in the
Scotsman, of the nth of April, that its composition was, in all
respects, "unexceptionable;" for, he continues, « I am confident
the result [of the Inquiry] will not only prove beneficial to my
worthy, but misguided, fellow-islesmen, but will also vindicate
many sorely-maligned proprietors and factors from the charges
made against them by untruthful outside agitators, not to speak
f others, who, while personally conversant with local conditions,
have not scrupled to throw out inferences which no view of the
facts can justify."
THE CROFTER ROYAL COMMISSION. 319
With a testimonial like this, and from such a quarter, it would
be a pure waste of space to say another word on the composition
and character of the Royal Commission to inquire into the griev-
ances of the crofters in the Highlands and Islands, composed, as
it is, of four landed proprietors, one lawyer (who is also a landed
proprietor's son,) and the Professor of Celtic in the University of
Edinburgh, who never exhibited any special interest in, or so far
as known, paid any special attention to, the subject of the inquiry,
and whose time, in the opinion of many of the subscribers to the
Celtic Chair .Fund, would have been far better and more con-
sistently employed in the necessary preparation for the important
duties of his Chair.
The nature of the Commission makes it all the more necessary
that evidence be brought forward from the crofters' side, and no
effort should be spared to secure that it is forthcoming. It is, how-
ever, much to be feared, that the Societies and individuals who
would have seen that this was done, had the composition of the
Commission given general, or even partial satisfaction, will lose
heart, and accept what many believe to be the inevitable, without
any effort to put forward the best witnesses ; and that the crofters
themselves will not give evidence unless they are encouraged to
do so, and, at the same time, assured that no evictions or petty
persecutions will follow, from laird or factor, in consequence of
their telling the truth. It is only by a carefully conducted cross-
examination that all the facts can be expiscated, and unless
Counsel is admitted in the interest of the crofters for that purpose,
the evidence obtained by the members of the Commission will,
we fear, prove of little value. Let us, however, now that we
have secured the Commission, make the best of it ; and, if it fails
to give satisfaction, the people, by a more powerful, legitimate,
and persistent agitation, will still have the remedy in their own
hands. A. M.
THE ROYAL COMMISSION is officially stated to meet at Dunvegan, ten miles
from Glendale, on the I5th of May, and at Broadford, in the other end of Skye, on
the following day. John Macpherson, the leading and most intelligent man in Glen-
dale, now in prison, is one of the witnesses to be put forward by the Glendale crofters,
but his sentence does not expire until the day on which the Commission is to meet at
Dunvegan. It is, therefore, physically impossible that Macpherson can be present.
Apart from this, those who know the district, and the nature and extent of the
grievances of the people of Glendale, are satisfied that a searching and complete
inquiry, which should be in the Glen itself, would take, not one day, but the greater
part of a week !
320 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE,
THE HIGHLAND DRESS.
BY J. G. MACKAY.
III.— HIGHLAND ARMS.
Fir aigeannach, mheamnach,
Le glas-lann an ceanna-bheart,
'S i sgaiteach gu barra-dheis,
'S i ana-barrach geur,
An taice ri targaid,
Crios breac nam ball airgeid,
'S an dag nach robh cearbach
Gun tearmunn nan sg&th
Le'n gunnacha glana,
Nach diultadh dhaibh aingeal
Spoir ur air an teannadh
Gu daingeann nan gleu
Gu cuinnsearach, biodagach,
Fudarach, miosarach,
Adharcach, miosail,
Gu misneachail, treun.
THE armour of the Highlanders formed such an important part
of their attire that it may very properly be treated under this
heading. Before the passing of the Disarming Act, they seldom
laid aside their arms of defence, and never appeared abroad with-
out their military weapons.
The Highlanders adhered as fondly to their own peculiar
style of weapons as they did to their dress. We have the
authority of Tacitus and Herodian for saying, that they were in
their time, A.D. 207, exactly the same as was in use in 1745
(with of course an improvement in the manufacture), viz.: — long
broadswords, " Pagiones" or daggers, corresponding with the
Highland dirk, and small round shtelds. Coats of mail seem to
have been little used among them ; they relied more on their
own strength and dexterity than on any defensive armour,
which they considered an encumbrance, if not an indication of
cowardice. At the battle of the Standard, 1 138, Malise, Earl of
Strathern, a Gaelic chief, remonstrated with the Scottish King
against his designs of placing his squadrons of Norman auxil-
liarics, who were clothed from head to foot in steel, in the front
THE HIGHLAND DRESS. 321
of the battle. " Why," said he, " will you commit yourself so
confidently to these Normans? I wear no defensive armour, yet
none of them will go before me this day into the battle."
In Ty tier's " History of Scotland," the following account of
their arms is given from Etheld-redus de bello Standardi: —
" They were armed with long spears pointed with steel, swords,
darts or javelines (the Sgian dubh\ and made use of a hooked
weapon of steel, with which they made hold of their enemies (the
Lochaber axe), and their shields were formed of strong cowhide."
This corresponds exactly with the arms mentioned in the poems
of Ossian. In Cath Loduinn, Duan I., we have the following
graphic description : —
Glac-sa sgiath t'athair a'd 'laimh
Tha cruaidh mar charraig nan cos
Thilg Suaran a shleagh gu grad
Stad as chridh i an scan chraoibh Loduinn
Tharruing na suinn ri cheile
Le'n lannaibh a' beumadh comhraig;
Bha cruaidh a' spealtadh air cruaidh,
Luiriche fuaim agus maile ;
Ghearr Mac Luinn na h-iallan uallach ;
Thuit an sgiath bhallach san laraich ;
Chaisg an righ a lamh gu h-ard,
Le faicinn SOT Shuairain gun airm ;
Thionndaidh a shuil fhiadhaich 'na cheann
Agus thilg e lann air lar; •
Tharruing e cheum mall 'on t-sliabh
Fonn 6rain a' tuchadh 'na chliabh.
At the celebrated battle on the North Inch of Perth, fought
in the year 1396, between two parties of the Clan Chatain, the
arms used were precisely the same as mentioned by Ossian.
Andrew Wyntown, who wrote about 1400, speaks of " the Wyld
Wykkyd Helandmen" thus —
At Sanct Johnstone beside the Frevis
All thai entrit in Barreris
Wyth bow and ax, knyf and sword
To deil amang thaim thair last word.
The historian, John Major, who wrote in 1512, thus describes
their arms : — " They use a bow and quiver, and a halbert well
sharpened, as they possess good veins of native iron. They carry
large daggers under their belts ; their legs are frequently naked
322 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
under the thigh; in winter they carry a mantle for an upper
garment."
John Taylor, the water poet, who made a tour in Scotland
in the year 1618, says— "Their weapons are long bowes with
forked arrowes, swords and targets, harquebusses, muskets, dirks
and Loquhabor axes." In a Satirical, by William Clelland, on
the Expedition of the Highland Host, 1678, we have the following
amusing description of the Highland officers:—
With brogues, trues, and pirnie plaides,
With good blew bonnets on their heads,
Which on the one side had a flipe
Adorned with a tobacco pipe,
With dirk, snap work, and snuff-mull,
A bagg which they with onions fill ;
And as their strick observers say,
A tupe horn filled with usquebay,
A slasht out coat beneath their plaids,
A targe of timber, nails, and hides,
With a long two-handed sword
As good's the country can afford.
Had they not need of bulk and bones
Who fight with all these arms at once?
The Highlanders being naturally a bold, active, and hardy
race, they were trained from their infancy to the use of their
weapons, and studied lightness and freedom in their dress and
accoutrements more than artificial defence. A man of physical
weakness or incapacity was looked upon with pity and contempt,
while a person guilty of cowardice was shunned with the utmost
abhorrence.
Martin gives a most interesting description of the customs
prevalent in the Western Isles in his time. He says : —
" Every heir or young chieftain of a tribe was oblig'd in
honour to give a publick specimen of his valour, before he was
own'd and declared governor or leader of his people, who obey'd
and followed him upon all occasions. This chieftain was usually
attended by a retinue of young men of quality, who had not be-
forehand given proof of their valour, and were ambitious of such
an opportunity to signalize themselves.
" It was usual for the captain to lead them, and to make a
desperate incursion on some neighbour or other that they were
in feud with ; and they were oblig'd to bring by open force the
THE HIGHLAND DRESS. ' 323
cattel they found in the lands they attack'd, or to die in the
attempt. After the performance of this atchievement, the young
chieftain was ever after reputed valiant and worthy of govern-
ment, and such as were of his retinue acquir'd the like reputa-
tion. This custom being reciprocally us'd among them, was not
reputed robbery, for the damage which one tribe sustain'd by
this essay of the chieftain of .another, was repaired when their
chieftain came in his turn to make his specimen ; but I have not
heard an instance of this practice for these sixty years past."
The formalities observed at the entrance of these chieftains
upon the government of their clans were as follows : —
"A heap of stones was erected in form of a pyramid, on the
top of which the young chieftain was plac'd, his friends and fol-
lowers standing in a circle round about him, his elevation signi-
fying his authority over them, and their standing below their
subjection to him. One of his principal friends delivered into
his hands the sword wore by his father, and there was a white
rod delivered to him likewise at the same time. Immediately
after, the chief Druid (or orator) stood close to the pyramid and
pronounced a rhetorical panegyrick, setting forth the ancient
pedigree, valour, and liberality of the family, as incentives to the
young chieftain, and fit for his imitation.
" It was their custom, when any chieftain marched upon a
military expedition, to draw some blood from 'the first animal
that chanced to meet them upon the enemy's ground, and there-
after to sprinkle some of it upon their colours. This they con-
sidered as a good omen of success. They had their fixed officers,
who were ready to attend them upon all occasions, whether mili-
tary or civil. Some families continue them from father to son,
particularly Sir Donald Macdonald has his principal standard-
bearer and quartermaster. The latter has a right to all the
hides of cows killed upon any of the occasions mentioned above,
and this I have seen exacted punctually, though the officer had
no charter for the same, but only custom. They had a constant
sentinel on the top of their houses, called the Gockman, or, in the
English tongue, Cockman ; who was obliged to watch day and
night, and at the approach of anybody to ask, Who comes there ?
This officer is continued in Barray still, and has the perquisites
due to his place paid to him duly at two terms of the year.
324 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
There was a competent number of young gentlemen called
Luchk-tach (Luchd-taic) or Guard de corps, who always attended
the chieftain at home and abroad. They were well train'd in
managing the sword and target, in wrestling, swimming, jumping,
dancing, shooting with bow and arrows, and were stout seamen.
" Every chieftain had a bold armour-bearer, whose business
was to attend the person of his master night and day to prevent
any surprise, and this man was called Galloglach ; he had also a
double portion of meat assigned him at every meal. The measure
of meat usually given him is call'd to this day Bieyfir (Biadh-
fir^), that is a man's portion, meaning thereby an extraordinary
man, whose strength and courage distinguish'd him from the
common sort.
" Before they engaged the enemy in battle, the chief Druid
harangu'd the army to excite their courage. He was plac'd on
an eminence from whence he address'd himself to all of them
standing about him, putting them in mind of what great things
were perform'd by the valour of their ancestors, raised their hopes
of victory and honour, and dispell'd their fears by all the topicks
that natural courage could suggest After this harangue, the
army gave a general shout and then charged the enemy stoutly.
This in the antient language is call'd Brosnichiy Kah (BrosnacJiadh
Cath) i.e., an incentive to war. This custom of shouting aloud
is believed to have taken its rise from an instinct of nature, it
being attributed to most nations that have been of a martial
genius: as by Homer to the Trojans, by Tacitus to the Germans,
and by Livy to the Gauls."
William Sacheverell, Governor of the Isle of Mann, who was
employed in 1688 in the attempt to raise the " Florida," one of
the Spanish Armada lost at Tobermory a century previous,
gives an account of the dress and arms of the Highlanders as" he
saw them in Mull at that time, which is well worthy of being given
in full. He says — "During my stay I generally observed the
men to be large-bodied, stout, subtile, active, patient of cold and
hunger. There appeared to be in all their actions a certain gen-
erous air of freedom, and contempt of those trifles, luxuries, and
ambitions which we so serviley creep after; they bound their
appetites by their necessities, and their happiness consists, not in
having much, but in coveting little. The women seem to have
THE HIGHLAND DRESS. 325
the same sentiments with the men, though their habits (their
dress) were mean, and they had not our sort of breeding; yet in
many of them there was a natural beauty and graceful modesty
which never fails of attracting.
" The usual outward habit of both sexes is the Pladd ; the
women's much finer, the colours more lively, and the squares
larger than the men's, and put me in mind of the ancient Picts.
This serves them for a veil, and covers both head and body. The
men wear theirs after another manner, especially when designed
for ornament; it is loose, and flowing like the mantles our
painters give their heroes; their thighs are bare, with brawny
muscles ; Nature has drawn all her strokes bold and masterly ;
a thin brogue on the foot, a short buskin of various colours on
the leg, tied above the calf with a striped pair of garters ; a large
shot pouch in front, on each side of which hangs a pistol and
dagger ; a round target on their backs, a blue bonnet on their
heads; in one hand a broadsword, and a musket in the other.
Perhaps no nation goes better armed, and I assure you they will
handle them with bravery and dexterity, especially the sword
and target, as our veteran regiments found to their cost at
Killecrankie."
The Highlanders were at all times noted for the rapidity of
their movements ; on account of their being so lightly clad and
light of foot, they were sometimes employed in the Scottish wars
to act along with cavalry, one between each horse ; and we are
informed that they kept pace with the horses in all their move-
ments, let them go ever so quickly, and they did terrible execu-
tion. The soldiers of Mackay's regiment, in the wars of
Gustavus Adolphus, acted as auxiliaries to the cavalry in the
same manner.
The author of " Certayne Manners," already quoted, says : —
"They have large bodies, and prodigious strong; and two quali-
ties above all other nations : hardy to endure fatigue, cold, and
hardships; and wonderfully swift of foot. The latter is such an
advantage in the field that I know of none like it, for if they
conquer no enemy can escape them, and if they run even the
horse can hardly overtake them. There were some, as I said
before, that went out in parties with the horse."
Their mode of fighting was characteristic of themselves : they
X
326 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
marched boldly and resolutely up to the enemy till within shot,
when they halted and discharged their muskets or arrows, as the
case might be, then, drawing their claymores, with one sudden
cry they rushed on the enemy before he had time to recover
from the discharge ; such was the rapidity and fury of the on-
slaught that the most disciplined troops rarely, if ever, could
stand before them, and once the claymores were among them the
day was decided. Their onset was so terrible that even Dr John-
son admits " that the best troops in Europe could with difficulty
sustain the first shock of it, and if the swords of the Highlanders
once came in contact with them their defeat was inevitable."
After firing, the muskets were thrown to the ground, as they
rarely fired a second volley, and, on many occasions, they even
stripped themselves of their plaids and jackets, and fought in
their shirt-sleeves, as at Blar-na-leine— a battle fought between
the Erasers and Macdonalds in 1 544, and also at Tippermuir,
Sheriffmuir, and Killiecrankie. Many writers would have us be-
lieve that they fought with nothing on but their sh'irts, but the
stupidity of such an assertion must be plain to any one who
chooses to think of it. This idea arose from the fact of those
who stripped themselves, as mentioned above, being dressed in
the feileadh-beag and shoulder plaid ; and the latter being wrapped
round the shoulders, would encumber the arms and hinder them
in the use of their weapons; whereas, if they had been dressed
in the belted-plaid, it, being fastened on the left shoulder, and
hanging loosely behind, left the arms perfectly free. This was
the very purpose for which the belted-plaid was intended; for,
while it left them perfectly free in the use of their arms, it
afforded them sufficient covering for camping out, and was con-
venient to carry.
Martin gives a most minute description of the mode of fight-
ing, and completely explodes the idea of their stripping to their
shirts. He says — " The antient way was by pitched battles ;
and for arms some had broad two-handed swords and head
pieces, and others bows and arrows. When all their arrows were
spent they attacked each other, sword in hand. Since the inven-
tion of guns they are very early accustomed to use them, and
carry their pieces with them wherever they go ; they likewise
learn to handle the broadsword and target. The chief of each
THE HIGHLAND DRESS. 327
tribe advances with his followers, within shot of the enemy, having
first laid aside their upper garments •, and after one general dis-
charge they attack them sword in hand, having their targets on
their left hand (as they did at Killecrankie), which soon brings
the matter to an issue, and verifies the observation made of them
by some historians, Aut mors Cito, out Victoria l&ta"
The wisdom of throwing aside their muskets and plaids may
be questioned, and it is certainly not in accordance with the
modern ideas of warfare ; but where everything depended upon
lightness and rapidity of motion, the advantage of being free from
incumbrance is plain. The reason given by themselves is, that
after the muskets were discharged they did not require them at
the time, as they never fired a second volley; if they were victorious,
they could easily pick them up again, and if killed they had no
further use for them. It can easily be imagined that fiery and
passionate men like the Highlanders would ill brook the idea of
peppering at the enemy at a distance, or being shot like so many
pheasants at a battue, with such a trusty and decisive weapon as
the claymore in their hands ; they always considered that the mus-
ket was a weapon for little men and cowards.
(To be continued.)
ARGYLL EVICTIONS.
Written on board the steamer" LORD OF THE ISLES" during a trip to Inveraray.
THOSE straths and glens, with waving ferns, where sheep and lambs now stray,
Could muster at the pibroch sound, to forage or to fray,
Five thousand of the bravest men, e'er stood in rank and file,
To do the bidding of their chief, or die for old Argyll.
Alas ! where are those heroes now, uprooted from the soil !
Some driven off to other lands, some to our towns to toil.
Now, should the " Fiery Cross " go round, by vale or mountain steep,
Those straths and glens might well resound — " Put red coats on your sheep."
Great God on high, whose mighty eye looks down on all below,
Whose ear is open to the cry, the patriot's cry of woe,
Why should Thine own eternal laws, who did creation plan,
And formed us like Thy very self, man like his fellow-man,
Be broken by a selfish few, who claim the lion's share,
And drive poor mortals from the soil, while there is room to spare ;
Ho ! spirits of the mighty dead breathe down upon your bones,
Till ghastly hosts, with martial tread, shake parliaments and thrones.
Arise, ye sons of noble sires — awake, shake off your slumber,
Blow Freedom's spark until it fires, and rolls in awful thunder
From end to end of Britain's Isle, from platform and from press,
Till Lords and Commons grant just laws, and cruel wrongs redress.
Greenock. W.O.C.
328 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES.*
WITH certain modifications Mr Mackenzie might have pre-
fixed as a motto to his " History of the Highland Clearances,"
recently published, the famous invocation with which the Iliad
opens : —
"Achilles' baneful wrath resound, O, Goddess that imposed
Infinite sorrows on the Greeks, and many brave souls loosed
From breasts heroic ; sent them far to that invisible cave
That no light comforts ; and their limbs to dogs and vultures gave."
The fierce anger of the Grecian chief let loose the dogs of
pestilence and defeat upon his army, so that by troops to death
they went. The havoc of war is, however, in most cases soon
mended, and its miseries soon covered with a fresh and kindly
sward. It was not generous rage, which may glance in the
bosom of even a wise man, that moved our Highland chiefs to
perpetrate upon their people the revolting deeds chronicled in
the painful pages of this very interesting book. Their motive
was of a different stamp. Our chiefs had fallen out of sympathy
with their people — they mingled with the foreigner and learnt his
ways. The old language was lost, the old ways with their rude
simplicity became distasteful, became offensive to them as peat
reek to a city-bred man. Then the old rent was not sufficient to
meet the demands of life in the capital, to meet the cost of
equipages, horses, dogs, and worse. Greedy capitalists were at
hand to whisper in the ear of impecunious pleasure-loving lairds
that the glens, if their inhabitants were removed, would bring
more money. The factor, with an eye to save himself trouble,
rejoicing in the thought of having gentlemen farmers for his
companions, instead of being under the necessities of attend-
ing to the little and irritating details which arise from the
circumstances of a multiplied crofter life, said amen to the dan-
gerous suggestions of greed. The voice of the serpent, subtle to
deceive, was heard, and the glory of the chiefs shook its wing and
left the land. But there were other chiefs of a different mould
to whom the tempter came with appeals, not to their own per-
* By Alexander Mackenzie, F.S.A. Scot, Inverness: A. & W. Mackenzie.
THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 329
sonal necessities, but with bright descriptions of the good that
should accrue to the people themselves, and to the country gener-
ally, by their transportation across the sea to the West, or to the
shores of their own seas at home. This is notably true of the
Sutherland family, whose doings figure so largely in the mourn-
ful record to which Mr Mackenzie has anew and so powerfully
directed the attention of the public, now so thoroughly educated
by Irish Land Acts and otherwise in such matters. It will be
matter of everlasting regret to thousands that the Sutherland
shield was permitted to be stained by the dirty hands of men
whom oceans of ink cannot wash clean. It was the misfortune
of Sutherland that the Duchess-Countess lost both her parents,
when but a child, and that she was brought up in " Babylon," far
away from the Zion of her ancestors. As an orphan, and as the
sole surviving representative of a proud and honoured name, the
interest excited in her among her people was intense. This
interest was kindled into a flame of devotion to her person and
her rights, when Sutherland of Forse, in Caithness, endeavoured
to secure the Earldom to himself as the male heir; but the "grey
mare proved the better horse," and Forse had to be content with
his plain name and house. The county of Sutherland was ablaze
with joy at the victory of their infant Countess. The Reay
country caught the enthusiasm, and Rob Donn sang, in glowing
terms, the virtues of the young lady's forefathers, congratulated
her on the good fortune which made her the heir of their fame, hon-
our, and wealth. Alas ! circumstances, which are detailed in the
"Highland Clearances," connected with the noble lady's education
and married life, made it impossible for her to understand the
people who poured out such an abundance of affection around
her when in her cradle her position was threatened, and con-
tinued to reverence her until love and reverence and trust were
extinguished in the fires that consumed their pastures while still
legally their own, and finally the huts which their own hands had
reared. Pride in the history of a family hoary with an antiquity
lost in the far off times, was changed into hatred bitter as gall
and wormwood. Yet this Duchess and her noble husband wished
to do well, and would have done well had they but taken some
trouble. Their liberality was unbounded, yet they were hated by
the vast majority of the inhabitants of their Highland county,
33o THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
More than £200,000 were spent, and yet, when the Countess
died, a preacher, a man of a different kidney from those timid
preachers whom Donald Macleod indignantly holds up. to scorn,
gave expression to the prevailing feeling when he said in the
pulpit that " the Countess was in heaven if the oppressors of the
poor go there r Cursed be the system that could produce a state of
feeling among a Highland population that could applaud such a
terrible sentence in a funeral sermon. Covetousness and the
"dismal science" put on the garb of philanthropy, told the good
lady that the people who would have died for her were ignorant,
vicious savages who, many of them, had " never heard the name
of Jesus," who lived upon the warm blood of their live cattle
tempered with nettles. She believed the slander, and the darling
of Sutherland became its execration. The great slanderer him-
self was punished when, in his old age, at Wick, during an election
contest, he was met by a long procession headed with a sheep,
painted in Sutherland tartan, on a raised platform many feet
high, and with a miniature cottage with smoke oozing through
its tiny roof. It is said that he broke his heart. If he did his
own was not the first or the second that he broke.
One of the saddest things in this book is the abject cowardice
of the parish ministers, the natural leaders of the people, when as
yet there was no dissent and no newspapers in the North worthy
of the name. Passive obedience was their favourite doctrine.
Right enough, but should they be passive while their flocks were
being torn and scattered. I can understand why Rob Donn
should have said bitterly, and in severe terms : —
Is e meas ministeir sgireachd
Bhi na chriosduidh mar fhasan, &c., &c.
If the ecclesiastical struggle of Scotland in this century shall have
no other fruit than the severance of the connection between the
Patron and the Church, it deserves the thanks of the country.
The minister is now free to speak without fear, if he has a tongue
to use. The effect of his silence when he should have spoken
has been very great in various ways, which cannot be more par-
ticularly referred to here. But let us not be too severe even on
men who stood by and said nothing when " the flesh of their
people was eaten, and their skin flayed from off them." Their
THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 33!
position was a trying one, there was no public opinion to back
them up if they stood in the breach, no members of Parliament
to put questions to bring to light the obscure works of cruelty.
Some even of those mentioned in no friendly terms, lived to re-
gret their past indifference, were roused to take the side of the
weak as against the strong, and right manfully suffered in the
cause of truth and liberty. It is but simple justice to the memory
of the Mackenzies of Tongue and Farr to make this addition and
modification to the scathing denunciations wrung from the proud,
indignant, and suffering heart of Macleod. We shall, perhaps, too,
be more charitable in judging those simple and isolated country
ministers, to whom the great Lord was the " breath of their nos-
trils," if we call to mind that the authoress of " Uncle Tom's
Cabin," the unflinching advocate of the slave, who, perhaps, more
than any other individual, was responsible for the terrible civil
war in the blood of which slavery was washed away, was so fas-
cinated with the bewitching beauty of the humanities of Dunrobin,
that she took the side of Loch, as against Donald Macleod and
Hugh Miller. We have reason to believe that Macleod led her
to see that the " Sunny Memories of Sutherland " had a North
side where there were in abundance memories that were not
sunny.* But we should not be surprised if the power and worth
which blinded the judgment of a Republican, who won her fame
by pleading the cause of the outcast, should also have prevented
the Sutherland ministers, as a whole, from winning the glory of
martyrdom in an unpopular cause.
But this book is not without testimonies from the pulpit in
behalf of the victims of a misguided land policy. The name of
Sage is still green in the hearts of a very few who still remember
him and the tragic sorrows which brought down his grey hairs
in sorrow to the grave. For generations to come his name will
be remembered, far and wide, by the descendants of the dispersed
of Kildonan. In incisive, characteristic speech, full of truth and
power, Dr Kennedy shows that the oppressor need expect no
quarter from his keen claymore, any more than the heretic or the
innovator, who tampers with the form of worship which nourished
* It may be stated as a fact of considerable interest, in connection with the
Clearances, that Mrs Beecher Stowe's defence of Loch and the Sutherland family has
has been suppressed in the later editions of her "Sunny Memories, "—ED. C. M.
332 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
the great Fathers of the North. Long may his bow abide in
strength, though sometimes its arrows may pierce a friend as
well as a foe. It is pleasing to know also that the tongue of the
greatest prose writer in Gaelic did not allow— aristocrat though
he was in his sympathies— the deeds of the landlord to pass with-
out strong protest; and that, in this respect, he was seconded in
wise, sagacious, and patriotic sentences by Dr Maclauchlan, who,
but for ill-health, would not be silent at the present time— preg-
nant as it is with hope for the down-trodden.
No doubt, too, many other brave words were spoken which
are forgotten. To our own knowledge, Norman Macleod of
Trumisgarry, fearlessly acquitted himself in North Uist, in con-
nection with the madness of the tyrant there. Mr Macleod had
the rare grace of being better at suffering than at speaking, of
being more at home in applying at all hazards his principles than
in expounding them. But, unfortunately for his fame, Uist has
not produced a Donald Macleod. Perhaps he is coming. But
enough on this point. To many who think that a minister has
nothing to do with the social comforts of the people, and that
their opinion on such questions is of no more value than a shep-
herd's on navigation, it will be more interesting to know that Mr
Mackenzie has given us in his volume the deliberate judgment
on the Highland Clearances of some of the most distinguished
men of the century, not only in our own country, but abroad.
Here are the opinions, not of excited priests, but of Generals, liter-
ary men, scientific men, philanthropists, editors, statesmen, and
even of hard-headed, cool political economists. The chorus of their
song is an unqualified condemnation of the treatment which our
Highland peasantry received on the soil that in part at least was
by right their own. Indeed, we gather from some remarks in
this book that it is now beginning to dawn on the landlords them-
selves that they have been guilty of a huge blunder in expatri-
ating so many of their tenants. We hope this is true. Could
they be induced to take the same pride, the same interest in their
tenants as an officer does in his regiment, the land question would
not be so difficult to solve.
We have said that the deeds of suffering recorded in this
book were allowed by those in power because they believed they
THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 333
would be productive of good to the landlord, to the evicted, to
those who were not banished, and to the country at large. Has
this anticipation been realised? Is the manhood of the Celts
who still remain of a higher order? Do we look in vain now for
the poverty to which the produce of an ebb tide is a sad neces-
sity? Is the eye never offended and the feelings wounded by
mud cabins, where we must reach the hearth over a pavement of
dung formed by the beasts which share the same room with
their owner? Is the wealth of the country so much increased by
the profit of sheep and deer that the rates are not oppressive ?
Is the land blessed with happiness, with content ? Is there the
absence of those materials which furnish the agitator with the
elements of his dangerous power ? If we could believe that the
sufferings of the past have resulted in a nobler life to the crofters
who still exist, or in the amelioration of their external condition,
so that they have enough to eat and to put on, then, though a
sympathetic tear would naturally fall on the sufferings involved
in the transition to the new and happier state of things, one
should not complain, but rejoice that the blood of the fallen has
enriched the soil for those who survive. If this were the fruit of
the social changes in the Highlands, which are now in every-
body's mouth, we should no more find fault with the pain which
accompanied them than we should with the pain of a surgical
operation. Have we this consolation ? The question seems
absurd enough in presence of the condition of many parts of the
country at this moment, when the cry of hunger, the most
terrible of all cries, is heard in various parts of the land. It is
obvious, then, that the new system, with its consolidation of farms,
whether for the butcher or the sportsman, has not brought plenty
to the land. It is a curious fact, though not surprising to those
who understand the question, that at this moment those portions
of the Highlands where the old custom of combining arable land
and pasture prevails, are at the present moment the most con-
tented and prosperous. This seems to be the case even where
the antiquated run-rig system obtains, and it is a startling com-
mentary on the worth of the prophecies by which our modern
improvers justified their conduct and soothed their consciences.
We have hunger on the very skirts of our deer forests, and plenty
334 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE,
in those remote spots where the shadow of the despised middle
ages still rests.*
But then our Mollisons tell us, amid the plaudits of Whig
editors, that all would be well, but for the laziness of the inhabi-
tants. It seems the men won't fish, and the women don't earn
their I2s. a day like the women of the East. Now comparisons
are odious. It may be perfectly true — indeed, it is true — that an
average West Highland fisherman is neither so daring nor so
successful a fisherman as those, say, of Buckie. It takes some
generations to make a thorough-bred fisherman as it takes to
make a thorough-bred gentleman, or anything else that is thor-
ough-bred. The Buckie men were not forced from the hills, from
following sheep, to be manufactured into mariners. The High-
landers were, and the wonder is that they can do what they do
in the sea-faring line. Let it be remembered, too, that for a long
time there was no market for fresh fish. Be it not forgotten that
the Highlander has not the means to furnish himself with boats
of the strength and capacity of the East Coast boats. In more
places than one the Highlander has acquired the skill and cour-
age needed to make a good fisherman. But he need not be lazy
though he is not at home on the rolling billow. The Celtic
women, too, though they can't earn I2s. a day, work as hard as
their more fortunate sisters of another tongue. Dragging kelp
is not a lazier job than cleaning fish. The Jew is not lazy, but
when he was a slave, his ears were dinned with the cry, " Ye are
lazy," while his back smarted under the lash of his very lazy, but
very cruel, accuser. Make the Celt independent, secure him
from being robbed of his own by arbitrary power, and if he does
not change the face of the little spot of nature assigned to him,
then let him give place to those who will. But if the Celt is lazy
is it not possible that the position he is placed in by those in
power is justly chargeable with responsibility for this detestable
vice? No man would be very active if so situated that his activity
would not be rewarded, that the fruit of his industry might at any
* Vide a powerful paper on the Highlands by John Rae, in the Contemporary
Review for March. Mr Rae's paper deserves and will reward the most careful study.
It is gratifying to see a disciplined intellect like Mr Rae's taking up, and with much
effect, the cause of the poor, and earning for itself the blessing of him that was ready
to perish. The crofters have now found a fit audience, for they have found tongues to
speak for them which will compel even the deaf to hear.
THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 335
moment be seized by another. Such is the position of the ma-
jority of our crofters. Those of us who hold that a grievous and
foolish wrong has been done, in the name of progress and good-
will to men, to the Highlands by the proprietors, are supposed to
hold that there should be no change. The charge is absurd.
What we hold is that the changes in question have been brought
about in such a way as to aggravate the old evils, such as over-
crowding, which made change necessary. Our population, we
are told, is as large as ever. Granted. What does this involve?
No one will venture to say that the population has the same
amount of land as before, so that the assumption means over-
crowding of a terrible kind somewhere — an overcrowding which
can never be far removed from squalor, wretchedness, and famine.
Now, this state of things must not be allowed to continue.
Either let us go on to weed out the inhabitants of the coast, as
we did that of the inland valleys, or else let them have land
enough to call forth their highest physical and intellectual
energies.
We have been looking at this question from the peasants'
point of view, but from the landlords' point of view a mistake has
been made. His rent is not what it might have been, any more
than the comfort of his peasantry. We know a small township on
the estate of Clyth which, in the early part of the century, being
regarded as "fit only for beasts," was let for £7. The same
ground is now let for more than £200 ! This increase was the
result of the labour of evicted crofters from Sutherland, who were
allowed to settle on the dreary waste referred to. These " bar-
barous " crofters trenched, drained, fenced, and built their huts
with the extraordinary result mentioned.
Then where is the influence of the lairds as leaders of men ?
Is it not heard also on all hands that the soil which is tilled does
not yield what it once yielded. Then, though the Duke of Argyll
tells us that sheep are real reclaimers of land, is it not known that
the pasture on which they feed is fast deteriorating? This is
even made an excuse now for deer forests. Verily, it is a hard
task to untie the knot which has been made. That task is to
raise the status of the crofter. It is pleasant to see Lady Cath-
'cart recognising this duty. With a higher status, with more land,
the crofter will acquire that self-respect and independence which
336 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
will lead him to educate his children in such a way as to foster in
them a spirit of enterprise which will make them seek their for-
tunes anywhere rather than remain in misery at home.
It may possibly be right that the Highland peasantry
should disappear. It may be for the good of the nation. But
if so, we hope the nation herself will look into the matter, as
indeed, she is doing. The decision must not be left in the hand
of the individual landlord. Even the Red Indian is now pro-
tected in his poor rights, and, if only for the sake of artistic
variety, what remains of an old race should not, without good
reason, be allowed to vanish or live in abject, hopeless poverty.
A crofter's life must be a hard one, but with fair-play, with security,
with wise guidance and careful instruction by his superiors, it
is infinitely preferable to the life of myriads in our great cities.
This view strongly impressed itself on my mind when my duties
as a missionary brought me into close contact with many of the
slums and wynds of Edinburgh. There is a possibility of success
in the towns, which cannot be found in the country, but there is
a possibility of sinking to a lower depth. I have often met
Highlanders in those one-roomed houses in the city to which Mr
Bright referred in terms which must have given a shock to those
who think that there is nothing but progress to be seen among
us, and in my heart I wished them, and their puny children,
away in the worst huts in the Lews. The savour of a Highland
hut, at once a byre and a home, is fragrant as the smell of
Lebanon compared to the savour of many of those places where
thousands in our cities live. Cities are a necessity, and in them
we must look for the noblest specimens of. humanity, but they
br'ieed a rottenness, physi-al and moral, 'which will end in death,
unless a fresh stream- of healthy, rural manhood shall constantly
flow into and purify their seething -corruption. Surely the source
of this stream is to be found in a well-conditioned peasantry re-
moved from the corrupting influence of wealth on the one side,
and on the other from the enfeebling effects of a despairing
poverty.
Now, it is clear that despair, conscious or unconscious, is of
necessity the familiar friend of many of our crofters. There is at
present no chance for him to rise at home in the social scale.
Everything above him is too high for him to aspire to, and so,
THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 337
perhaps, he wrings his hands, and does not do what he might do.
Thus our cities have a much higher interest in the land question
than that of mutton. They need strong men of sound limb, and
high character, as well as mutton. Under a better system of land
tenure they would have more of both and of a higher quality. At
the same time the small farmer who cultivates his own farm is
more to be envied than his son who goes into the town. Only a
small minority can ever rise above the condition they were born
in. We need take no account of them in thinking of what is for
the general weal of the majority, who are and will be doomed to
physical toil. But toil on the hillside is preferable, under right
conditions, to toil in the factory. Said a learned advocate once
to me — " Weed out your crofters, and send them to the cities."
(His oldest son, a fine boy of ten, was playing at the time on the
heather hy his side). " Sir," I said to him, " you know city life,
you know the circumstances of the artizan, and his labourers.
Suppose, now, you were under the hard necessity of choosing for
your son, there, an average crofter's life, or that of a working
man - in . . a large town, which of the stern alternatives would
you prefer?" My gifted and philanthropic friend was silent
for a moment, and then replied with warmth, " I should choose
the croft rather "tKarr'the mill for him." Quite so. At the
same time there will always be a surplus which must leave
their homes, and the better off they are at home, the better fitted
will they be to benefit themselves and the new places they go to.
I trust that in the coming struggle in behalf of an oppressed, but
still noble race, our true Highland lairds — alas, that they, too,
should have been so much cleared out — will distinguish them-
selves by a genuine love of country and kin.
Mr Mackenzie deserves the best thanks of the community
for drawing attention, in his able book, to the past sufferings of
the Highlands, and to the social condition which has directly
sprung from them.
A. C. SUTHERLAND.
SELLAR'S TRIAL.— Mr Mackenzie of the Celtic Magazine has issued his
promised reprint of "The Trial of Patrick Sellar." It is a very curious document
indeed, and illustrates the fact that considerable progress in the way of a pure adminis
tration of the law has been effected in Scotland since the year 1816.— Christian Leader.
338 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
MR PATRICK SELLAR AND THE SUTHERLAND
CLEARANCES.
The following correspondence, which explains itself, will, just now, prove inter-
esting. It was crushed out of our last issue :—
HALL GROVE, BAGSHOT, 2nd March 1883.
SIR,— As an executor, and the eldest son of the late Mr Patrick Sellar, I have to
address you with reference to a book recently published by you, and entitled "The
History of the Highland Clearances."
In that book you reprint as authoritative and trustworthy the letters of Donald
Macleod. These letters — originally published, as it would appear, in or about the
year 1840, in the Edinb^irgh Weekly Chronicle (a newspaper which at no time was of
any authority in Scotland, and then was in its last days) —contain false and calumnious
accusations against my father— accusations which you reproduce as if they were true.
No reader of your book could suppose from its contents that, as the fact is, every
article of Macleod's accusations had been embodied in the indictment preferred against
my father at the trial in April 1816, when he was declared to be completely exonerated
by the unanimous verdict of a Scottish jury of 15 men, in whose verdict the presiding
Judge expressed his " entire concurrence." The whole of the malicious and baseless
accusations preferred against my father — the identical accusations made long subse-
quently by Macleod — fell at once to the ground for want of evidence to support them,
when brought to the test of a judicial enquiry.
But, further, you publish in Macleod's fifth letter, also as authoritative and trust-
worthy, a letter from the Sheriff-Substitute, Mr Robert Mackid, to Lord Stafford,
dated 3<Dth May 1815, containing a series of similarly false and malicious accusations
against my father. Mr Mackid's accusations, which led to the trial of April 1816,
where they were found to be baseless, led also to an action being brought by my
father against him, and that action only ended by the abject submission of the de-
fendant and by his writing a letter of retractation and regret, of which the following is
a copy : —
11 DRUMMUIE, 22nd September 1817.
" Sir,— Being impressed with the perfect conviction and belief that the state-
ments to your prejudice, contained in the precognition which I took in Strathnaver, in
May 1817, were, to such an extent, exaggerations as to amount to absolute falsehoods,
I am free to admit that, led away by the clamour excited against you, on account of
the discharge of the duties of your office, as factor for the Marchioness of Stafford, in
introducing a new system of management on the Sutherland estate, I gave a degree of
credit to those mis-statements of which I am now thoroughly ashamed, and which I
most sincerely and deeply regret. From the aspersions thro\vn on your character,
I trust you need not doubt that you are already fully acquitted in the eyes of the world.
That you would be entitled to exemplary damages from me, for my participation in
the injury done you, I am most sensible ; and I shall, therefore, not only acknow-
ledge it as a most important obligation conferred on me and on my innocent family,
if you will have the goodness to drop your lawsuit against me, but I shall also pay the
expenses of that suit, and place at your disposal towards the reimbursement of the
previous expenses which this most unfortunate business has occasioned to you, any
ium you may exact, when made acquainted with the state of my affairs — trusting to
your generosity to have consideration to the heavy expense my defence has cost me,
THE SUTHERLAND CLEARANCES. 339
and that my connection with the unfortunate affair has induced me to resign the office
of Sheriff-Substitute of Sutherland. I beg further to add, that in case of your com-
pliance with my wish here expressed, you are to be at liberty to make any use you
please of this letter, except publishing it in the newspapers, which I doubt not you
will see the propriety of objecting to. — I am, sir, your most obedient servant,
"ROBERT MACKID.
" Addressed to Patrick Sellar, Esq., of Westfield, Culmaily."
This letter is formally recorded in the Books of Council and Session at Dornoch,
and the original was inserted in open Court, in the Sheriff Court Books of Sutherland-
shire, and registered as a "probative writ," on November I3th, 1817, and you can
refer to it accordingly. Mr Mackid paid the costs of the action against him and sub-
stantial damages, and he also resigned his office of Sheriff-Substitute.
I put it to you whether, in common fairness, and even supposing you could justify
the reproduction under any circumstances of these calumnies of Mackid and Macleod,
you were not and are not bound to give your readers some indication that those
identical calumnies were, every one of them, the same which had been long before dis-
proved in a Court of Law, and to make them aware that Mackid had abjectly retracted
in writing his share of the calumnies, while Macleod's were stale reproductions, five-
and-twenty years after the events, of what at the utmost certain witnesses had pro-
fessed themselves at the preliminary examination to be ready to state, but which they
could not sustain an oath at the trial.
It is not easy to conceive that you can have been ignorant of the record of the
trial, or of the retractation by Mackid of the accusations contained in his wicked letter
of the 3Oth May 1815. Nor is it easy to understand for what cause you have repro-
duced those disproved calumnies against a dead man — calumnies, holding up to public
execration one whose accusers had collapsed at the touch of legal investigation, and
who had been legally proved to be, and (as appears from the evidence given at the
trial), was absolutely innocent of the charges preferred against him.
I now ask you what reparation you are prepared to make for your reproduction
of these false and wicked calumnies, holding myself free to take such course in the
the matter as may seem proper after I learn your decision ? — Yours faithfully.
THO. SELLAR.
Alexander Mackenzie, Esq., F.S.A. Scot., Editor of the
Celtic Magazine^ Inverness.
" CELTIC MAGAZINE " OFFICE,
* INVERNESS, March 5th, 1883.
SIR, — I am in receipt of your favour of 2nd inst. You can scarcely expect me to
reply to it in detail, keeping in view its last two lines.
I may, however, say that the objects I had in view are set forth in the preface to
my book, and that it could not possibly have been meant to damage anyone.
I was acquainted with the result of Mr Sellar's trial in 1816. Macleod states it,
and the book contains it. I am now preparing a new edition of the trial for the press,
so that the public may be in possession of all the facts of the case. It would have
been printed ere now were it not that my copy of it wants a few leaves, and I am
waiting for a complete one which is to reach me to-morrow.*
"I was not aware of the existence of Mackid's letter, which you quote, or I would
certainly have printed it in a foot-note, and I will do so yet if the work goes into a
second edition ; for I have no personal feeling in the matter.
* Since published, with Introductory Remarks, and can be had free, by post, from the Celtic
Magazine Office, for 13 postage stamps.— ED. C. M,
340
THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
That Macleod's letters were to be reproduced in my " Highland Clearances "
was advertised for months ; and I happen to know that members of your family were
aware of the fact. It therefore seems somewhat curious that you or some of them did
not call my attention to Mackid's letter. When you consider that, according to the
conditions declared in the letter itself, it was not to appear in the newspapers at the
time, it was not a document which was at all likely to be much known, except to those
more immediately concerned.
You would have noticed that some sentences in Macleod's book have been left
out, and others considerably toned down in my work.
The great facts of the Sutherland Clearances, as described in Macleod's book, and
fully corroborated by other writers, are as true historically as those of the massacre of
Cawnpore, and I cannot understand how any one, however closely interested, can
expect that such a chapter in the History of the Highlands, with its various lessons,
can be permitted to fall into oblivion.
Your father was acquitted of the specific charges brought against him in Court ;
but the object of my book is to make it impossible that a law should be allowed to re-
main on the Statute-Book which still permits the same cruelties to be legally carried
out in the Highlands as were carried out in Sutherland during the first half of the
present century.
I am of opinion that I have, in all the circumstances of the times in which we
live, simply done my duty in re-publishing so much of Macleod's book. If I am
wrong in this opinion I must prepare myself for the consequences of my error. Mean-
while, and in view of your threat, I cannot enter into any further personal correspond-
ence on the subject. With all respect,— I am, sir, yours faithfully,
A. MACKENZIE.
Thomas Sellar, Esq., Hall Grove, Bagshot.
THE LATE MRS HELEN MATHESON OR BELL. -On the ;th April,
and almost under the shadow of the house' in which, eighty-four years ago, she was
born, the grave closed over the remains of Mrs Helen Matheson or Bell, the last sur-
vivor of a family which once exercised no small influence in the North. Her father
was Colin Matheson of Bennetsfield, the acknowledged chief of his clan, and once the
proprietor of the valuable estates of Bennetsfield, and the two Suddies. Her mother
was Grace, daughter of Patrick Grant of Glenmoriston, while her maternal grand-
mother was a daughter of James Grant of Rothiemurchus.' This connection of the
Bennetsfield family with that of Rothiemurchus was of material service to the large
family— seven sons and seven daughters— of which Mrs Belt was the last survivor;
for Sir John Peter Grant the first, to his many other excellent qualities, added the
good old Highland virtue of a kindly interest in his deserving relatives. Hence the
early connection with our Indian Empire of Mrs Bell, her brother Patrick, and
his sons. In India she married Dr William Bell, of the H.E.I.C. Service, a man of
kindly heart and sincere piety, the friend of Metcalf, Pennifather, and other orna-
icnts of the Indian school of evangelical religion. Of this school the late Mrs Bell
a worthy disciple; and there are many in Inverness who will long miss her
cheering words and simple, unostentatious, charities. She was gathered to her fathers
e old churchyard of Suddie, her nephew, Colin Milne-Miller of Kincurdy, acting
as chief mourner. He is the last of her race-the Mathesons of Bennetsfield-to own
i the county where once they held large and valuable estates.
THE
CELTIC MAGAZINE.
CONDUCTED BY
ALEXANDER MACKENZIE, F.S.A., Scot.
No. XCIL JUNE 1883. VOL. VIII.
CELTIC MYTHOLOGY.
BY ALEXANDER MACBAIN, M.A.
II. — CAUSE OF MYTH— (Continued.)
THE theory of the cause of myth that finds most favour at the
present time is that which explains myth in connection with,
and dependence on, language ; while at the same time due regard
is had to the other possible sources of it in allegory, analogy, and
real, though exaggerated, events. The way in which language
gives rise to myth can, however, be understood only after a con-
sideration of the mental powers, state of culture, and consequent
interpretation of nature which existed among primitive and myth-
making men. Language is but the physical side, as it were, of
mythology, and the mental side of it must be considered before
the action of language can be appreciated properly. The origin
of myth springs from the same cause as the origin of science ;
they are both man's attempt to interpret his surroundings. Myth
is but the badly remembered interpretation of nature given in
the youth and inexperience of the world when the feelings were
predominant ; science is the same interpretation in the old age
of the world, given under the influence of the " freezing reason's
colder part." Man in the myth-making stage was ignorant of
the cause and real character of the mighty natural forces around
him — ignorant even of the unaltering uniformity of nature—
342 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
indeed the only thing the Celts said they were afraid of was that
the heavens should fall ! The relations of cause and effect they
interpreted by their own feelings and will-power ; every moving
thing, animate or inanimate, was regarded as impelled by a force
akirTto that which impelled man; that is, by a will-force. Even
stationary nature— the everlasting hills and the solid earth— was
endowed with feeling, will, and thought. All the mental powers
that man found controlling his own actions were unconsciously
transferred to nature. A personal life was accordingly attributed
to sun, moon, clouds, winds, and the other natural powers ; they
were looked upon as performing their special functions by means
of faculties of mind and body analogous to those of man or beast.
The varying phenomena of the sky, morn and eve, noon and
black-clouded night, were the product of the life that dwelt in
each. The eclipse of the sun, for example — a most dreaded event
in ancient times — was supposed to be caused by a wild beast
attempting to sWallow the lord of day ; and men poured forth, as
some savages do yet, with timbrels and drums, to frighten away
the monster. The clouds were cows with swelling udders, milked
by the sun and wind of heaven — the cattle of the sun under the
care of the wind. The thunder was the roar of a mighty beast ;
the lightning, a serpent darting at its prey. Modern savages are
in much this state of culture, and their beliefs have helped greatly
in unravelling the problem of mythology. The ideas which
children form of outward nature exemplifies in some degree the
mythic age through which the race in its childhood passed. " To
a little child not only are all living creatures endowed with
human intelligence, but everything is alive. In his world, pussy
takes rank with ' Pa' and * Ma' in point of intelligence. He beats
the chairs against which he has knocked his head ; the fire that
burns his finger is * naughty fire' ; and the stars that shine through
his bedroom window are eyes like mamma's, or pussy's, only
brighter."
It was on these wrong impressions — this anthropomorphic
view of nature— that language was founded. Language, in
man's passing to a higher state of culture, still kept, stereotyped
and fixed, the old personal explanations and statements about
nature; the language did not change, but man's views of natural
causes and events changed very much as he got more civilised—
CELTIC MYTHOLOGY. 343
more free from the influence of his feelings, and more under the
sway of his reasoning powers. The knowledge and ideas of
earlier men were thus, as it were, fossilised in language, and when
the feeling and personification impressed on language had passed
into a more intellectual age, the result was misinterpretation and
a too literal acceptance of many of the warm and vivid epithets
employed of old. The personal explanation of the sun's motion,
for instance, and the attributes and epithets given to it, all
charged with life and feeling, were in the course of time and
language taken in a more literal way, and, since slightly more
scientific views were held as to the real nature of the sun, the old
explanations were fastened to a separate sun-god, and thus a
divorce was made between the sun and the personality given to
it in the old epithets and explanations. The result was that
there came to be a sun and a sun-god, Apollo, quite separate ; and
the life-history given to this sun -god was taken from the explana-
tions formerly given, in personal and anthropomorphic language,
of the sun's daily and yearly course, his " rising" and " setting,"
for example, expressions which, though anthropomorphic, are
still in use. A myth cannot, therefore, well arise unless the true
meaning of a word or phrase has been forgotten, and a false
meaning or explanation fastened on it. We may take an ex-
ample from Greek mythology to illustrate this. Prometheus, the
fire-bringer, is merely the personification of the wooden fire-drill;
for the word is derived from the same source as the Sanscrit
pramanthas, the " fire machine." Transplanted to Greek soil, the
word lost its original signification with the loss of the thing sig-
nified, and became a mythological name, for which a new etymo-
logy had to be coined. Now, "promethes," in Greek, means
"provident," and so Prometheus, the fire-bringer, was transformed
into the wise representative of forethought, who stole the fire from
heaven for suffering humanity; and a brother was supplied him
in the foolish Epimetheus or "afterthought." And thereby
hangs one of the most famous and noble myths of antiquity.
Gaelic, in its modern shape even, presents some very start-
ling personifications of natural objects. The regular expression
for " The sun is setting" is " Tha a' ghrian 'dol a laidhe" — " going
to bed." Mr Campbell, in his very literal and picturesque trans-
lation of the West Highland tales, does not hesitate to follow the
344 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
Gaelic even in its most personal metaphors.^ " Beul na h-oidhche,"
"nightfall," is given literally as "the mouth of night." Gaelic
poetry too, is as a rule much more instinct with life and feeling
in dealing with natural objects than English poetry. Ossian's
address to the setting sun may be quoted to show what a mine
of metaphor, and consequent mythology, exists in our poetic and
elevated language—
" An d' fhag thu gorm astar nan speur,
A mhic gun bheud, a's 6r-bhuidh' ciabh ?
Tha dorsan na h-oidhche dhuit reidh,
Agus pailliun do chlos san iar.
Thig na stuaidh mu'n cuairt gu mall,
A choimhead fir a's glaine gruaidh,
A' togail fo eagal an ceann
Ri d' fhaicinn cho aillidh 'n ad shuain.
Gabhsa cadal ann ad chds,
A ghrian, a's till o d' chlos le aoibhneas."
These lines bring us back to the anthropomorphism of the Vedic
hymns of India, to which alone, in their richness of personification
and mythic power, they can be compared.
Allied to the linguistic theory of myth is also the simpler
case of those myths consciously started to explain the names of
nations, countries, and places. A common method of accounting
for a national name was to invent an ancestor or patriarch who
bore that name in an individual form. Britain, so say the myths,
is so named from Brutus, grandson of ^Eneas, the Trojan hero,
who first ruled here. Scotland gets its name from Scota, the
daughter of Pharaoh. The names of places are dealt with in the
same way, and, if the name is anyways significant, the myth takes
the lines indicated by the popular etymology of the name. This
is the origin of the name of Loch-Ness : "k Where Loch-Ness now
s there was once a fine glen. A woman went one day to the well
to fetch water, and the spring flowed so much that she got
frightened, left her pitcher, and ran for her life. Getting to the
top of a hill, she turned about and saw the glen filled with water.
'Aha!' said she, ' tha loch ann a nis ;' and hence the lake was
called Loch-Ness." A somewhat similar account is given of the
origin and name of Loch-Neagh, in Ireland, and Loch-Awe, in
Argyleshire.
From such myths as the last we gradually pass to myths
that do not depend in the least on the quibbling and changes of
CELTIC MYTHOLOGY. 345
language, but are, consciously or unconsciously, forged explana-
tions of national customs, historical events, or natural phenomena.
Thus the custom among the Picts whereby the succession was in
the female line, was mythically explained by Bede, thus : The
Picts, having invaded Scotland, came to terms with the indigen-
ous Gaels, and, as they brought no women with them, the compact
was that, if the Gaels gave them their daughters as wives, the
succession would be in the female line. Again, has the reader
ever thought why the sea is salt? Well, this is the reason why.
A man once got possession, it is needless to detail how, of a
fairy quern which was " good to grind anything," only requiring
certain cabalistic words to set it going or to stop it. A ship
captain bought it to grind salt for him on his voyage. In mid-
ocean the captain gave the quern the necessary order to grind
salt, and it did ; but unfortunately he forgot the incantation for
stopping it. The quern ground on and filled the ship with salt
till it sank to the bottom of the sea, where the quern is still
grinding salt. And that is the reason why the sea is salt If
any one is sceptical, just let him taste the sea water and he will
know its truth !
SPREAD OF MYTH.
Closely akin to the consideration of the cause of myth is the
question why myths and tales, evidently of the same origin, exist
among nations differing widely both in language and locality.
We found that tales of transformed lovers, descending even to
similarities in minute details, and hence showing evidences of a
common source, existed among all the chief nations of Europe,
Western Asia, and India. Besides, other myths of a more
general character are found all over the world. Now, what is the
cause of this wide distribution of the same myths ? Two or three
explanations are offered for this, each of which can correctly ex-
plain why some particular myths or tales, but none of which can
explain why the whole body of mythology and folk-lore, is so
widely distributed. Some hold that the stories and myths have
been borrowed or transmitted from one nation to another ; travel-
lers and translators, they think, will account for nearly the whole
of them. While it cannot be denied that many tales have permeated
from one nation to another, this will by no means account for the
similarities of myths among two nations or more, in whose langu-
346 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
age and customs these myths are so deeply embedded and in-
grooved that we should have to say the language too was bor-
rowed. If a myth, and, to a less degree, a tale, depend on a
nation's language— its modes of thought and expression, if the
roots of the proper names be embedded in the language, and
consequently obscured, that myth and that tale must belong to
that nation. They belong to that nation's inheritance as much as
its language. Of course, care must be exercised in deciding
what is really the peculiar property of a nation, and distinction
made between the various classes into which the materials of
mythology and folk-lore fall. "That certain deities occur in
India, Greece, and Germany, having the same names and the
same character, is a fact that can no longer be denied. That
certain heroes, too, known to Indians, Greeks, and Romans, point
to one and the same origin for these nations, both by their name
and by their history, is a fact by this time admitted by all whose
admission is of real value. As heroes are in most cases gods
in disguise, there is nothing startling in the fact that nations who
had worshipped the same gods should also have preserved some
common legends of demigods or heroes, nay, even in a later
phase of thought, of fairies and ghosts. The case, however, be-
comes much more problematical when we ask whether stories
also, fables told with a decided moral purpose, formed part of
that earliest Aryan inheritance?" Here Max Miiller draws a dis-
tinct line between fables with a moral or educative purpose and
the rest of the materials of mythology, and he has clearly demon-
strated that many such are borrowed. The fables of ALsop have
been adopted into every language in Europe, and the moral
tales of the Indians, after many vicissitudes, found a "local
habitation" in the pages of La Fontaine and others. Another
explanation for the distribution of myths is that primitive men
worked in similar grooves wherever they lived; man's circum-
stances being the same, his ideas and the expression of them will
present strong resemblances everywhere. This view will account
for the myths that are most widely distributed over the earth's
surface. Jack the Giant-Killer, for instance, appears in the Zulu
story of Uhlakanyana, who cheats the cannibal giant and his
mother, to the latter of whom he had been delivered to be
boiled, and whom he cunningly succeeds in substituting for him-
CELTIC LANGUAGES AND LITERATURE. 347
self. But the theory can apply only in a general way ; to the
great body of myths common to certain nations it cannot apply
at all; it does not touch their deep and often detailed resem-
blances. What harmonises best with the facts of mythologic
distribution is the grouping of nations into families proved to be
genealogically allied from possessing a common body of myths
and tales that must be descended from a parent stock. Although
the facts of comparative mythology are sufficiently strong of
themselves to prove the common origin of the nations from India
to Ireland, yet it is satisfactory that the science of language has
already proved the common descent of these nations, as far at
least as language is concerned. Linguists have called the parent
nation, from which they have sprung, the Aryan nation, a name
which shall be adopted in this discussion. The only other group
of nations that can satisfactorily be shown by their language and
mythology to possess a common descent is the Semitic, which
includes the Hebrews, Chaldeans, and Arabians. The Aryan
and Semitic races have nothing in common, except what is bor-
rowed, either in the matter of language or myth. When we are
told that the Celtic god Bel is the same as the Semitic Baal, we
may conclude that the assertion is, more than likely, both un-
scientific and untrue.
(To be continued.)
THE HISTORY OF THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES.— We heartily
commend Mr Mackenzie's volume of 528 closely-printed pages as a valuable store-
house of information to all who are interested in the grievances of the Highland
crofters. . . . We would especially advise those who have derived their ideas of
the crofters' grievances from the grossly one-sided and sensational statements of the
Scotsman to read the plain, unvarnished tale of Mr Mackenzie, who has studied the
question on the spot, and has no personal interest in misleading the public. — London
Echo.
CELTIC LANGUAGES AND LITERATURE. — Professor Blackie has
offered a Prize of ^25 to the Students of the Class of Celtic Languages and Literature
in the University of Edinburgh, for Session 1883-4, and a Prize of the same amount in
Session 1884-5. The Prize will be competed for at the close of the Session in each
year. Candidates will be examined in the following subjects: — (i.) Transla-
tion of a passage of Latin Prose, ad aperturam ; (2.) Translation of a passage of
Greek Prose, ad aperturam ; (3.) Elements of Sanscrit Grammar ; (4.) Comparative
Philology ; (5.) Gaelic. We hope to see this excellent example widely followed.
348 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
»
ROB ROY'S DEATH.*
[SUNDERLAND, April 24, 1883.— Dear Mr Mackenzie.— On reading Mr A. H.
Millar's lately published " History of Rob Roy," I was agreeably surprised to find
that Rob's exit was utterly devoid of "startling incidents " — as the tales by tradition
have it. Mr Millar has conclusively shown that Rob died quietly in his own house,
surrounded by his friends ; hence the enclosed alteration of my former poem on his
death which appeared in "Heather Bells." — Yours truly, WM. ALLAN.]
Night drew her dark mantle o'er gloomy Balquhidder,
The mist clouds rolled down from each mountain's rough breast,
And wild wailed the wind o'er the dew-laden heather,
In tones of despair for the hero's unrest.
The cold touch of death on Macgregor was falling,
His eagle eyes gleamed 'neath life's lingering fires,
While far-away voices he heard softly calling,
And saw the grey ghosts of his warrior sires.
" Who comes !" spake Macgregor, " that step is a foeman's,
My death-sharpened ear knows an enemy's tread,
Away, ye pale phantoms ! ye voices and omens !
Bring— bring me my claymore, wrap round me my plaid!
What ! Rob Roy defenceless ? Ha ! ha ! it shall never
Be said that Macgregor was powerless to smite;
A thousand death's terrors may haunt me ere ever
A foe shall behold me bereft of my might."
As calm as a monarch in glory reposing,
So lay the old Chief, with his clansmen around;
As bold as a warrior with enemies closing,
Death's slogan he heard, and rejoiced at the sound.
" Who doubts me," he whispered; " unconquered I'm dying,
My bed is the heather I trod in my pride,
My tartan, unsullied, around me is lying,
My sword's in my hand, and a friend by my side.'*
Afar o'er the mountains strange echoes were trailing,
And deep was the sorrow Balquhidder then saw,
The coronach's numbers of anguish were wailing
Around the cold couch of the vanquished outlaw.
Forever, away from the scenes of his glory,
They laid him to rest 'mid the dust of the brave;
And Scotland will cherish the fame of his story,
As long as her heather bells bloom on his grave.
WM. ALLAN
from "Heather Bells," April 1883.
349
THE ETHICS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY.
V. — THE PRINCIPLE OF RENT.
EVERY action of nature, connected with, and necessary to, human
life and advancement, would seem to be in a state of flux and
development. Whatever is rigid and opposes a restraint to this
process of development produces irritation and disturbance. A
dual land tenure is essentially of this nature, and has, more or
less, in every age and in every country, produced like effects. We
must, therefore, conclude that something is fundamentally wrong
which is at variance with natural harmonies, or, in other words,
which does not accord with the instincts of freedom and justice.
This is now felt on every hand, and although the best thought of
the age is eagerly directed towards some solution, in a final and
fundamental law, interested motives, the influence of habit, the
established relations of classes, sentimental associations, and the
sanction of usage, play so powerful a part that pure reason can
hardly penetrate the mists in which it is thus enveloped. The
age travels fast. The effects of inventions and the progress of
mankind would seem to have outrun the march of thought. We
look for precedents, and think that the condition of things that
suited our free-and-easy going forefathers a century ago, with a
population of one-fourth the present, and not one-tenth part of
the wealth, is adapted to meet the exigencies of our greatly
altered times.
The subject on which Adam Smith is thought most im-
perfect is his treatment of rent, and it cannot be denied by his
greatest admirers that, in some passages, he attributes value to
land which seems to be inconsistent with his fundamental theory
that all exchange value consists in labour. These seeming
contradictions, or obscurities, arise probably not so much from
confusion of thought as from not having always distinguished
between the rent of the landlord which resolves itself into profit
on his outlay, and that part which accrues to him in excess of
this, and which in reality is the rent of political economy. Much
obscurity and inconvenience arise in this way from the use of one
word in reference to a thing which is compounded of component
350 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
parts. But even, after making every allowance in this respect, it
must be admitted, I think, that the idea of a natural law of rent
may have escaped his comprehensive and acute mind. No doubt,
he attributes the phenomenon to its correct cause — increase of
population and competition — which, of course, would place it in
labour. The great importance he attached to agricultural indus-
try, as the original labour which supports all other labour, ap-
pears, however, to have led materialists to think that he gave
countenance to the idea, which, in fact, his work was intended to
refute, namely, that land has value apart from human labour.
The schools appear to me, however, to have been more eager to
seize upon what remained doubtful than to expand upon what
was free from ambiguity. If he did not condemn rent, or dis-
cover its law, he had little to say in its favour, whilst he pointed
to it as the most legitimate subject for direct taxation.
Notwithstanding the logical hiatus which has been found in
the " Wealth of Nations " on the subject of rent, it may still be re-
garded as the best text-book, and its definitions as the most ex-
plicit, whilst it is not too much to say of the author that he conT
tributed more towards enlightened legislation, and the happiness
of a larger section of the human race, than all the economists who
either preceded or followed him.
To illustrate the principle of rent, and in order the better
to demonstrate its law, on the theory that labour is the founda-
tion of all exchangeable value, the reader will excuse me for
giving extracts from what Adam Smith says on the subject, to
show that its principle is one of taxation, and that its proper
name is land-tax. —
" As soon as the land of any country has become private property, the landlords,
like all other men, love to reap where they never sowed, and demand a rent even for
its natural produce. The wood of the forest, the grass of the field, and all the natura
fruits of the earth, which, when land was in common, cost the labourer only the
trouble of gathering them, come even to him to have an additional price fixed upon
them. He must, then, pay for the licence to gather them ; and must give up to the
landlord a portion of what his labour either collects or produces. This portion, or,
what comes to the same thing, the price of this portion, constitutes the rent of land,
and in the price of the greater part of commodities makes a third component part.
" The real value of all the different component parts of price, it must be observed,
is measured by the quantity of labour which they can, each of them, purchase or com-
mand. Labour measures the value not only of that part of price which resolves itself
into labour, but of that which resolves itself into rent, and of that which resolves itself
into profit."
ETHICS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. 351
In my last article reference was made to the statement in
the latter paragraph that rent formed a component part of price.
Buckle points out that price is made up of wages and profit, and
refers to the following passage in the " Wealth of Nations " as the
true statement: —
" Rent, it is to be observed, therefore enters into the composition of the price of
commodities in a different way from wages and profit. High or low wages and profit
are the causes of high or low price ; high or low rent is the effect of it. " Buckle re-
marks:— "This latter opinion we now know to be the true one; it is, however, in-
compatible with that expressed in the first passage. For, if rent is the effect or price,
it cannot be a component part of it."
This question will be better understood when we come to
treat of the law of rent. In the meantime, it is sufficient to point
out that its action is to cut into wages and profit. // cuts inward
and reacts outward. As a commercial transaction between man
and man, its action is inverse, unnatural. Nothing puzzles a
schoolboy's brain so much as to convert an inverse into a direct
proportional, and the economists have not yet been able to solve
the problem of rent, just because, like blind moles " burrowing i'
the ground," they looked for its law in gradations of soil, instead
of looking for it in gradations of labour.
What is commonly called the rights of property is, so far as
the rent of political economy is concerned, the right to exercise a
taxing principle, which is vicious in its operation. It places in
the hands of individuals an instrument of power and oppression.
It is only in the hands of the Sovereign or State that such a
principle is safe, and very often that which ought to accrue to the
Sovereign is appropriated by the subject. To make it clear that
this is so, let me quote further from the same authority: —
" He sometimes demands rent for what is altogether incapable of human improve-
ment. Kelp is a species of sea- weed, which, when burnt, yields an alkaline salt, use-
ful for making glass, soap, and for several other purposes. It grows in several parts
of Great Britain, particularly in Scotland, upon such rocks only as lie within the high-
water mark, which are twice every day covered with the sea, and of which the pro-
duce, therefore, was never augmented by human industry. The landlord, however,
whose estate is bounded by a kelp shore of this kind, demands a rent for it as much
as for his corn-fields.
" The sea in the neighbourhood of the Islands of Shetland is more than commonly
abundant in fish, which make a great part of the subsistence of their inhabitants. But
in order to profit by the produce of the water, they must have a habitation upon the
neighbouring land. The rent of the landlord is in proportion, not to what the farmer
can make by the land, but to what he can make both by the land and by the water.
352 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
It is partly paid in sea-fish ; and one of the very few instances in which rent makes a
part of the price of that commodity is to be found in that country.
-But what all the violence of the feudal institutions could never have effected,
the silent and insensible operation of foreign commerce and manufactures brought
about These gradually furnished the great proprietors with something for which
they could exchange the whole surplus produce of their lands, and which they could
consume themselves without sharing it with either tenants or retainers All for our-
.elves, and nothing for other people, seems, in every age of the world, to have been
the vile maxim of the masters of mankind."
One more quotation to show that rent is not only the land-
tax of the State, but to furnish an instance where its delegation
to the zemindars of Bengal has been attended with the evil
effects which are experienced in the United Kingdom.—
" The land-tax or land-rent which used to be paid to the Mahomedan Govern-
ment of Bengal before the country fell into the hands of the East India Company is
said to have amounted to about a fifth part of the produce. The land-tax of ancient
Egypt is said likewise to have amounted to a fifth part.
"In Asia this sort of land-tax is said to interest the sovereign in the improvement
and cultivation of land. The sovereigns of China, those of Bengal, while under Ma-
homedan Government, and those of ancient Egypt, are said accordingly to have been
extremely attentive to the making and maintaining good roads and navigable canals,
n order to increase as much as possible both the quantity and value of every part of
the produce of the land, by procuring to every part of it the most extensive market
which their own dominion could afford."
In nearly all Asiatic countries, and particularly in India, the
cultivator holds the land direct from Government. His right,
indeed, is original and indefeasible, paying the land-rent or land-
tax through headmen of villages and districts, who, like the
feudal chiefs, had certain duties and jurisdictions but no pro-
prietorial right. Such was the case in Bengal until 1793, when
the East Indian Company made a fixed settlement of the revenue
with the zemindars, which conferred upon them proprietorial
rights, inasmuch as they were made free to levy rent in their own
right on the principle of " freedom of contract," whilst they paid
a fixed sum to Government. The unfortunate population was
handed over to the rapacity of revenue collectors, and the Gov-
ernment surrendered the future increment of the land-tax, whilst
leaving unborn generations at the mercy of irresponsible tyrants.
This unwise measure has been most oppressive to the ryots, or
cultivators, and has resulted in a loss to the Government of India
of ten millions sterling per annum at the present value of the land.
ETHICS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. 353
The case of Bengal is one of peculiar interest to the British
economist and legislature, as it presents an almost exact counter-
part of what has taken place at home. Repeated legislative
enactments of a temporising character have from time to time
been passed with a view to counteract or mitigate the funda-
mental mistake that had been committed, but they have all
proved of no avail. The Government of India cannot put Bengal
back to 1793. Just as I write, I read in the Times of yesterday
(9th April) the following telegram from Culcutta : —
" There is a great consternation and dismay among the Behar zemindars on the
publication of the Bengal Tenant Bill. Right of occupancy is given to the ryots if they
have held the smallest bit of land for twelve years. In all lands subsequently held by
them, irrespective of length of holding, transferibility is given to such rights. Freedom
of contract is denied to the zemindars. The maximum of enhancement is fixed at a
fifth of the value of the produce. Existing rates are interfered with. All this is
against permanent settlement. At a monster meeting of zemindars of Arrah to-day,
presided over by Maharajah Doomra, at which all the zemindars, Europeans included,
were present, resolutions were passed, condemning the bill, and protesting against
infringement of permanent settlement. "
All this is against permanent settlement ! What is per-
manent, except freedom and justice ?
As a matter of revenue, the "permanent settlement," by
which British landowners pay a fixed land-tax of £1,050,000
on the valuation of 1692, is a greater injustice to the British tax-
payer than the loss of revenue which has resulted to the Govern-
ment of India, for, on the rating of one-fifth, the British
Exchequer ought to derive twenty-six millions sterling from
land. British landlords are, therefore, like the zemindars of
Bengal, by unjust legislation, in possession of the revenue of the
Sovereign; but what is still worse, they wield the taxing power of
the Sovereign over the wages and profits of farmers.
In the presence of agricultural distress, and with the
existence of something like famine in our midst, could we but
compare the present with the past, and estimate our greater
capacity for meeting every such adverse contingency, it should go
far to convince us that the universal scheme of increase and
development is not checked by the " niggardliness " of nature,
but by the sordidness and injustice of the masters of mankind.
We think of India as teeming with a starving and redundant
population. We do not think of her idle, fattened, greasy, and
besotted rajahs and zemindars. We do not think of her unoccu-
354 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
pied wastes and immense food-yielding capacities. Burmah, for
instance, exports one-half of her rice crop, and only one-ninth
part of her culturable area is under actual cultivation. Within
the last few years the exports of wheat from Bombay have risen
from nothing to the value of nearly four millions sterling last
year, obtained from the black soils of Rajpootana, which are of as
great fertility as the black soils of Southern Russia.
In truth, what has taken place in Bengal is nearly an exact
counterpart of what took place in the Highlands. Feudal chief-
tains were turned into landlords, and sheep farms have been to
the crofters what indigo planting has been to the ryots. Whisky
distilling has been turned into a practical Government monopoly,
as the cultivation of the poppy has been turned into a Govern-
ment monopoly of opium. To raise the revenue of the State by
the nefarious means of administering to the vices of mankind,
and to relinquish the natural revenue, which appears, by a law of
nature, to be designed for the Sovereign, into the hands of idle
oppressors, is surely enough to call down the displeasure of
Heaven, if we still believe in a scheme of moral government.
The kelp rent furnishes an instance of greater public and
economic injustice than the history of any civilised country can
supply. No people in the world has been visited by so stern an
adversity of fortune as the Highlanders of Scotland. The kelp
trade was of as little advantage to the people as the introduction
of the potato, for the gratuitous gifts of nature, which, in the
progress of civilisation, ought to have greatly added to their
resources, merely enabled the chieftains to deprive them of their
ancient pastoral domains on the one hand, and on the other to
appropriate the fruits of their labour.
If they had been quite free to gather the sea-weed on their
own account, and to sell the burnt kelp, the proceeds of their
industry would have enabled them to buy up the whole High-
lands back again, and brought them into a high state of cultiva-
tion. The introduction of Spanish barilla supplied a cheaper
material for the manufactures in which kelp was used, but the
trade might have longer survived if the enterprise of the people
had been allowed full play, and under that condition of freedom
possibly some genius might have discovered a more economic
method of preparation. As the sea-weed is produced without
ETHICS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. 355
the aid of any human labour upon Crown lands, it was clearly an
act of injustice towards the British public to have been taxed by
a few individuals in respect of soap and glass for what was pro-
duced on public property. Still there appear to be men of some
education who regard the free introduction of Spanish barilla as
an act of confiscation of the property of Highland proprietors.
Sometime ago I was more than surprised to read in the
pages of this magazine that a Christian minister viewed the matter
in this light. He says —
" The Act abolishing the duty on Spanish barilla, which, in one year, entirely
swept away the kelp trade, from which his predecessors (Lord Macdonald's) had been
deriving a revenue of ,£20,000 a-year, and the Highland Chief, Macdonald of Clan
Ranald, by the same Act of Parliament, lost a revenue of ;£ 18,000 a-year. All the
sea-board landowners lost in the same proportion, and, as a matter of course, they had
no longer the means of giving employment to their tenants, who used to make a good
deal of money by manufacturing kelp. With such sudden and unlooked-for confiscation
of property, is it any cause of wonder that Highland proprietors got into financial diffi-
culties?"
As the foreshores and the sea-weed are still there, it is diffi-
cult to know what was confiscated, unless, indeed, the Act con-
tained a clause of manumission, in which case the Highland pro-
prietors, like the West Indies slaveowners, might have established
a claim for compensation. But, as the Highlanders have always
been considered free men, and, as the sea-weed was produced on
Crown lands, it appears to me that the Parliament ought to have
instructed the Woods and Forests Department to call for a count
and reckoning from the Highland proprietors.
A belief in the divine right of kings was a mild form of
superstition as compared with this infatuation, which one is sur-
prised to find still lingering in a dark corner of the Highlands.
With a revenue of £18,000 and £20,000 a-year the Macdonalds
ought to have accummulated great wealth. How they came to
poverty over it, and how their tenants are paupers upon a Man-
sion House Fund, will probably be best explained by another
quotation from the "Wealth of Nations": —
" t or a pair of diamond buckles, perhaps, or for something as frivolous and use-
less, they exchanged the maintenance, or, what is the same thing, the price of the
maintenance of a thousand men for a year, and with it the whole weight and authority
which it could give them. The buckles, however, were to be all their own, and no
human creature was to have any share of them ; whereas in the more ancient method
of expense they must have shared with at least a thousand people."
35<5 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
The clergyman who deplores the confiscation of the rent of
kelp has evidently a great sympathy with the owners of diamond
buckles !
It is very erroneously supposed that the evils of our British
land tenures arise out of the immense estates into which the
country is divided. That, in fact, is rather a mitigation than an
aggravation of the system, for large and wealthy owners are
likely to deal indulgently with their tenants. No doubt the
great facility that has been given to speculative farmers has
tended to banish a lusty peasantry to the larger towns, and
driven some to the poorhouse, but a great sub-division of the
land would not cure that evil. The fact that we import about
;£5O,ooo,ooo worth of the produce of petite culture is a proof that,
although large farms may have shown a greater amount of sur-
plus produce in grain and live stock, there may arise to the nation
an actual loss in men and more requisite articles of consumption
which are not so easily obtained at a moderate price as meat and
grain, whilst a depletion of the rural population is a great loss to
the trade of the towns.
But, although those countries where land is more sub-divided
are more amply supplied with that class of produce at cheaper
rates, and possess a more numerous and more prosperous
peasantry the root-evil appears in a still more aggravated form on
small estates than on large properties. This has been experienced
in Ireland, where the worst of all landlords were small and needy
speculators drawn from the commercial classes. In the Low
Countries, as M. de Laveleye informs us, this class of owners,
who, instead of working their own land, resort to letting it out,
the tenants are rack-rented, and are miserably poor. The evil is,
therefore, not one of degree, but one of kind.
The correspondent of the Times at Shanghai, writing some months ago, testifies
to the same result in China :— " The land laws are by no means unfavourable to the
distribution of wealth. Indeed, theorists who are fond of advocating the land for the
people in the form of peasant proprietorship might take a leaf from the Chinese
Statute-Book on this head. The general rule is that there can be no proprietorship in
waste lands. All land not under tillage belongs to the Crown, but can be converted
into private property by the simple expedient of bringing it under cultivation and
undertaking to pay the taxes. The cultivator thereupon receives a Government title
free of cost which is good against all the world."
Then as to the evil effects of sub-letting, he adds—
ETHICS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. 357
" The possession of a plot of land, however small, implies at least something in
the way of capital, but below these again there is another class of cultivators, who, as
tenants, farm the land of those who from circumstances or disposition do not care to
do so themselves. . . . These cultivators are invariably men of no capital, their
stock-in-trade consisting of a few rude and simple instruments costing a mere trifle,
It is on this class that the pinch of poverty falls in bad years."
It, therefore, appears to be a matter of universal experience
that the cultivator who owns land is always possessed of some-
thing good against the pinch of poverty, whilst tenant farmers,
unless large capitalists, are everywhere an oppressed and beggarly
lot.
Now, as the institution of property in Great Britain is based
upon a title from the Crown, as lord paramount, all owners may
be regarded as tenants, and it is clearly competent for the Crown
by advice of Parliament to issue an edict forbidding the subletting
of land, as a custom which is found to be contrary to public policy.
Then every owner of land might be safely allowed to do what he
likes with his own — to work it by hired labour, or sell what he
might find too much for his capital to stock, or of too great an
extent for his supervision. This, however, appertains more to
the domain of practical politics, and I shall therefore conclude
this paper by making a summary of the foregoing remarks as to
the principle of rent.
1. Its origin is a sovereign right, or the taxing power of the
Sovereign. This land-tax, by a law of increase, increases as popu-
lation increases. By its inverse action, when it exceeds the
natural appreciation of the superficies ; it cuts into wages and profit,
and reacts on price in limiting production.
2. A taxing power over the gratuitous gifts of nature is in
reality a tax upon the whole people. Its appropriation by a
portion of the subjects is a species of usurpation, and its delega-
tion by the Sovereign is an unjust abnegation of sovereign right.
3. It is contrary, as a business relationship, to the scheme of
nature, inasmuch as the flexible nature of the soil does not admit
of adjusting equities, for the landlord may confiscate the labour
of the tenant, and the tenant may rob the landlord by exhaust-
ing the soil. Further, inasmuch as a fixed rent is a certain
amount for an uncertain return, it is a species of gambling in the
dispensations of Providence.
So long as the right to lend or sub-let land is conceded to
THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
subjects in any country-in America and Australia, as well as in
Europe-the same consequences must follow-the engrossment
of lame tracts of country in view of increase of population, and then
taking advantage of their necessity. The law in every country
regarding land might be expressed in the following well-known
lines:—
" Neither a borrower nor a lender be,
For loan oft loses both itself and friend,
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry."
Guernsey. MALCOLM MACKENZIE.
PLEA FOR BEING A -GALL," YET SYMPATHIZING WITH
THE GAIDHEAL
IN Aberbrothock I was born,
An ancient town that none can scorn
(Tho' more than thirty years have passed
Since I was in my birthplace last),
And where to-day you may behold
The ruins of an Abbey old,
Which tho' bereft of all its glory,
Will live for aye in Scottish story,
And all my forbears I may say
Belonged to Counties North the Tay,
And half the blood within my frame
From Sgiathanach and Strathspey came :
Wherefore as it appears to me,
A true-born Scotsman I must be ;
Yet when in some Hebridean Isle
I chose to pitch my tent a while,
Some agent of the Laird, in fright
Lest his transactions come to light,
Will say to me, " You are a Gall
And have no business here at all,
With everything you interfere
As if you were the master here,
And all we think it best to hide
You learn and publish far and wide.
You tell the Laird what he should do
As though the land belonged to you,
And, though a coigreach and intruder,
Scold him in cainnt that can't be ruder;
You take evicted crofters' parts
And fan rebellion in their hearts,
PLEA FOR BEING A GALL. 359
Till they their disaffection vent
In bold appeals to Parliament;
Their hopes, long crushed, you raise to life,
And seem to glory in the strife,
You are a fire-brand and a curse,
To Gaidhealtachd never came a worse,
You do more mischief where you settle
Than would the Colorado beetle,
And if the law would but agree
I'd have you tossed into the sea."
But by their leave I am a Scot,
Who feels at home in every spot,
From Tweed's broad stream to John o'Groat,
From Eilean h-Iort to Buchanness,
And if therein I see distress
I have a right to use my pen
When it can help my countrymen.
That man I do not much admire
Who feels but for his native shire ;
The thoughts of whose contracted mind
To his own parish are confined ;
Who fancies all beyond that place
A foreign and inferior race ;
Who would to suit his narrow view
Divide poor Scotland into two —
As for myself I. feel akin
To all who dwell in A Ibinn. ]. SANDS.
THE GLENDALE "MARTYRS."— The three crofters imprisoned for two
months in Edinburgh for breach of interdict were liberated on Tuesday, I5th May, at
8 A.M., when they were met by about 1000 people, headed by two pipers, who marched
to the Ship Hotel, and there entertained the liberated men to a public breakfast. The
same evening John Macpherson, after visiting friends in Glasgow, proceeded to Skye
by Strome Ferry, so that he might reach Glendale in time to be examined by the
Royal Commission on the following Saturday. It became known in Skye that Mac-
pherson was coming, and the Portree and Braes people determined to give him a
warm reception. As the "Clydesdale" approached the Braes, three bonfires were
seen ablaze, and several flags were flying in the breeze. When the steamer rounded
into Portree Bay, a large crowd could be seen on the pier, while numbers were flock-
ing from all parts of the village in the same direction. Macpherson having been ob-
served on deck the crowd cheered vociferously, while hats were raised and handker-
chiefs waved by the assembled multitude. Before he could place his foot on shore he
was raised on the shoulders of four stalwart fellows, who carried him aloft, hat in hand,
and bowing to the crowd, amid the enthusiasm of the people, to the Portree Hotel,
Colin, the piper, leading the way, playing appropriate airs. Macpherson, on his ar-
rival at the hotel, addressed the people, warmly thanking all his friends and the
friends of the people of Skye, North and South, and urging upon his countrymen to
insist upon getting justice now that it was within their reach. " If Joseph," he said,
"had never been sent into Egyptian bondage, the children of Israel might never have
got out of it." He believed the imprisonment of the Glendale crofters had done
more to remove landlord tyranny and oppression from Skye than anything which hap-
pened during the present century. He was afterwards entertained in Mr Macinnes's
excellently conducted hotel. Several of the Braes men came all the way to Portree to
honour one whom they esteem as the leading martyr in the crofter cause.
36o
THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
A RUN-THROUGH CANADA AND THE STATES.
BY KENNETH MACDONALD, F.S.A., Scot.
VI.— ONTARIO.
THE great Province of Ontario is entitled to something
more than mere passing notice, and Toronto, its capital, is per-
haps the best point from which to take a general survey of it.
The extent of the Province is variously estimated at from 120,000
to 200,000 square miles— the lowest estimate thus making it
about equal in size to Great Britain and Ireland. What the ex-
act figures are will not be known until the whole Province has
been surveyed. A great part of its territory, however, situated to
the north of the townships fronting the St Lawrence, and to the
north-west, consists of lands which are at present unpeopled, and
a great part of which will probably remain so for some years to
come. The settled portion of the Province of Ontario extends
to something like 50,000 square miles — about the size of Eng-
land— and it is with this part of its territory we have now to deal.
Beginning in the east, at the boundary with Quebec, the Pro-
vince stretches westwards along the St Lawrence, the shores of
Lake Ontario, the Niagara River, Lake Erie, the Detroit River,
Lake St Clair (a small lake situated between Lakes Huron and
Erie), Lake Huron, with the large land-locked sea known as
the Georgian Bay, then eastwards by Lake Nipissing to the
Ottawa River, and so down again to the St Lawrence. This is
the territory which, although only a part of the real Province of
Ontario, is generally meant when that Province is now spoken or
written about. But it would be a mistake to suppose that this is
the only part of Ontario fit for settlement. Year by year the
limits of settlement are extending, and, in spite of the counter-
attraction of Manitoba, Ontaria will not only hold its own, but
will doubtless continue to grow.
Notwithstanding the nearness of the two Provinces to each
other, their constant intercommunication and political union,
Ontario, even to a casual visitor, makes an impression entirely
distinct from that made by Quebec. The large proportion which
French-speaking people bear to the total population in the latter
THROUGH CANADA AND THE STATES. 361
Province gives it a semi-foreign aspect, although the loyalty of
its people and its press — one might almost say their ultra-loyalty
— impresses one very strongly with the truth of the late Sir
George Carder's reply to the enquiry of the Queen when she
asked "What, Sir George, is a French Canadian?" "Your
Majesty," he replied, " he is an Englishman who speaks French."
Yet, although in sentiment the French Canadian is an English-
man, the fact that he speaks a language foreign to his fellow-
subjects at home has a tendency at first to make an English-
speaking stranger wonder why he is loyal, as if his loyalty re-
quired to be accounted for. In Ontario, on the other hand,
except on the boundary of Quebec, French is scarcely ever heard.
Ontario is in fact the English-speaking Province of older Canada,
and the emigrant or visitor from this country at once finds him-
self at home. In course of time another great English-speaking
province, or, more properly, several English-speaking provinces,
will grow up in the North-west, in Manitoba and the region
beyond ; but at present this description is applicable only to
Ontario, and this fact, together with its comparative nearness to
this country, draws to Ontario a number of emigrants, who, but
for the greater distance, and the natural disinclination of persons
accustomed to live in a thickly-peopled country to transport
themselves to a thinly-peopled one, would probably go further
west. The large number of Scotch settlers and men of Scotch
descent in Ontario, and the generous warmth with which they
welcome a wayfaring fellow-countryman, tend of course to make
the first impressions of the Province pleasant to a Scottish visitor;
but, apart from this feeling of friendship, the two Provinces strike
a stranger as standing out from each other, as having not only
different languages, but distinct habits, feelings, and modes of
thought ; and of the two, Ontario, as might be expected,
approaches nearer to our home standard.
The River St Lawrence has already been referred to, and
the amount of water which it carries to the Atlantic has been
mentioned. But figures give a very inadequate idea of the water
system of North America. It is only when one comes to sail
upon the American rivers and lakes that their size is fairly
realised. Lake Ontario, the smallest of the five great lakes
drained by the St Lawrence, is 190 miles long, and 55 miles
362 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
wide at its broadest part, and has an area of between five and
six thousand square miles ; while Lake Huron, the second
largest in size, is 280 miles long, 105 miles wide exclusive
of the Georgian Bay, has a total area of 20,400 square miles, and
has its surface studded with no less than 3000 considerable
islands. Superior, the largest of the lakes, whose northern and
eastern shores are formed by the Province of Ontario, is 420
miles long, 160 miles wide, and 1750 miles in circumference, and
covers an area of 32,000 square miles. This great inland sea has
a drainage area of about 100,000 square miles, and receives the
waters of 200 streams, 30 of them being of considerable size.
Looking at these lakes on a map, dwarfed as they are by the
continent around them, they do not impress one as being very
large, but the traveller upon them finds it very difficult to realise
that he is sailing only on inland lakes, and not on the open
ocean. Speaking of the voyage along the Lake of the Woods,
a comparatively small lake compared with Superior or Huron,
Lord Dufferin once said to a Winnipeg audience that the
traveller would be surprised to find himself as sea-sick as ever he
had been crossing the Atlantic, a remark which applies with even
greater force to the larger lakes, where the voyager may sail
for days together without seeing land. This water system gives
to the whole of Canada, but especially to the Province of
Ontario, commercial advantages of the first importance. Almost
every part of the Province is brought within easy distance of the
world's market by two competing lines of transit, ship and rail,
and in this way neither mode is so expensive as to burden the
the profits of the farmer.
The position of Toronto, on the shore of Lake Ontario,
makes it the natural centre for collecting and distributing the
greater part of the produce of Central Ontario. Its people have
made the best use of their natural advantages, and by means of
their energy and integrity, Toronto is rapidly becoming a for-
midable rival to Montreal as the commercial centre of Canada,
although the position of the latter city, at the head of the ocean
navigation, and the fact that most of the great railway interests
of Canada are centered there, make it highly improbable that it
will ever be outstripped by its western rival.
Ontario has been called the Garden of the Dominion of
THROUGH CANADA AND THE STATES. 363
Canada, and the title seems fairly earned. In course of a very
few years, Ontario, as a wheat-producing country, will be dis-
tanced by Manitoba and the North-west, but it must remain the
great fruit-producing province, both the climate and the soil of a
great part of it being apparently peculiarly adapted for fruit-
growing. But it is not merely a fruit-producing country — it is,
all over, a good agricultural country also. Beginning at the ex-
treme south-west of the Province, on the borders of Lake Erie,
the land produces all the cereals, including Indian corn, while at
the same time it is well adapted to the growth of the finer kinds
of fruit, as grapes and peaches, and large quantities of grapes are
grown every year for export. In the counties on the shores of
Lake Huron, including the southern part of the Georgian Bay,
the principal crops are wheat, barley, and oats, but grapes and
peaches are also produced along the shores of the Georgian Bay
in large quantities, and that part of the Province is famed for the
quality and the vast quantity of plums it produces. In the
inland western counties there is some timber-land; but the soil
where cleared is good and well watered, while the land under
cultivation produces wheat, barley, and oats. The counties
bordering on Lake Ontario are the longest settled in the Province,
and there both farming and gardening have made the greatest
progress. Both climate and soil are favourable for the cultivation
of all sorts of cereals and fruits, and the practice of holding
every year local exhibitions of products has in the^ past tended,
by giving rise to healthy competition, to improve both fruits and
crops. These exhibitions are not by any means confined to the
Lake Ontario counties — they are held under the auspices of local
societies all over the Province. Ontario is full of organizations
for the promotion and encouragement of anything or everything.
Ten years ago the Province contained three hundred societies,
organized according to law for the promotion of agriculture, horti-
culture, and the mechanical arts, the principal means adopted
being the holding of annual exhibitions in their several localities.
Since that time the number has not decreased, although it is now
beginning to be felt that there may be too much of even such a good
thing as exhibitions. During the month of September last there
was in Toronto an exhibition of the products of various industries
of the district ; a day or two after it closed, a Provincial Exhibition
364 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
was opened at Kingston ; and, overlapping both, there was a great
exhibition in Montreal. The Toronto and Montreal Exhibitions
I was present at, and both of them were large and successful ;
and, judging from the newspaper reports which I saw at the time,
not only in Ontario, but in Manitoba, which sent an exhibit to
Kingston, the exhibition at the latter city was highly successful
also, but yet one of the principal speakers during the Montreal
Exhibition struck a chord to which his hearers heartily responded,
when he said that the Dominion was wasting its strength by
holding a large number of local exhibitions, which in effect com-
peted with each other, entailed a heavy tax upon exhibitors, and
prevented the holding of one large exhibition representing the
whole of Canada. From the manner in which this speech was
received by the Canadian press, it seems probable that for the
future the number of local exhibitions may decrease, and while in
the present circumstances of the country, this need not, perhaps,
be regretted, it should not be forgotten that the Ontario of to-day
(to keep to the Province of which I am writing), with some four
thousand miles of railway, is somewhat different from the Ontario
of thirty years ago, when the Province had not one mile of rail-
way ; and that, while in many cases local exhibitions may now
have ceased to perform any useful function, to their existence in
the past much of the past advancement and present prosperity of
Ontario are due.
But to return to the products of Ontario. Butter and
cheese are produced in large quantities for export, and a
large number of cattle are also exported. In the twelve
months ending 3Oth June 1878, Canada exported of her own
produce, exclusive of shipments made at her ports of produce
from the States, 13,000,000 Ibs. of butter, and 38,000,000 Ibs. of
cheese. The figures for subsequent years, if we had them,
would probably show a very large increase over 1878, as the ex-
portation of cheese alone had, at that time, doubled in five years.
Barley is almost always a sure crop in Ontario, and produces
from 30 to 40 bushels per acre, while fall wheat, with good farm-
ing, is said to produce from 35 to 40 bushels per acre, and with
indifferent farming from 20 to 25. Spring wheat, oats, and peas
also produce heavy crops. Indian corn is grown, but principally
for green fodder. Stock-raising for the market is a business
THROUGH CANADA AND THE STATES. 365
which is also engaged in pretty extensively, and in this branch of
industry the experience of the Ontario farmer approaches more
nearly to that of the British farmer than in many other parts of
America. Ontario has no great runs of prairie pasture, such as
exist further west in Canada, and in many parts of the States,
but its climate and soil afford special facilities for preparing the
raw material produced on the prairies for the market. A British
farmer, writing of his experience in Ontario, says — " We can take
a Durham or Hereford cross steer from its milk when six months
old, put it upon green or dry fodders, according to the season of
the year, with bran and peas meal, or corn meal, and within 24
months, place it on our seaboard at an average live weight of 1400
Ibs., and at a cost not exceeding £14. In this and all its connec-
tions there necessarily arises a large profit." This is probably
true enough, yet during all the time I was in Canada I was not
able to get a beef steak which any ordinary teeth could get
through with comfort, but this may have arisen through all the
best beef being sent to the British market.
It is from fruit-growing, however, that Ontario landowners
and occupiers obtain the best returns. This industry is encour-
aged by an association, which, in addition to its revenue from
members' subscriptions, receives a handsome subsidy from the
Provincial Government. The many varieties of apples produced
in Ontario, I can say from personal experience, are unsurpassed
for size, flavour, and beauty, and they are produced in very large
quantities. Peaches and strawberries are also extensively culti-
vated, and, during the season, the latter fruit is delivered at the
different Lake Ports and Railway Depots in cart-loads. At pre-
sent a considerable trade is done with Britain in apples, and the
Canadians believe that, with some care in packing, the trade will
be largely developed in a very few years. In the interest of all
lovers of really good fruit, I sincerely hope they are right.
A Scottish Judge recently remarked in my presence, in course
of a conversation on Canadian farming, that there was no such
thing as payment of rent for farming land in Canada, and this seems
to be a pretty general opinion. It is, however, a mistake. The agri-
cultural tenant is not altogether unknown, although he is not so
frequently met with as in this country. In the counties bordering
on Lake Erie, farms may be leased for from 6s. to 2os. per acre.
366 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
In the Niagara district the renting of farms is not common, but
they may be had for about I2s. per acre. In the Lake Huron
counties rents range from 8s. to i8s., according to the state of
cultivation, and the common length of the lease seems to be
about five years. In the midland counties a farm of 100
acres may be rented for from £20 to £80, and in some cases
rents of 2Os. per acre are obtained. In the northern counties
rents are as low as 2s. per acre, while in the counties border-
ing on Lake Ontario they mount up, in some cases, to 28s.
per acre. But after all the tenant-farmer is the exception in
Canada. Of 367,862 persons who, according to the census of
1871, occupied land in the four Provinces of Nova Scotia, New
Brunswick, Quebec, and Ontario, 324,160 were owners, 39,5^3
tenants, and only 2119 farm labourers or servants, so that tenant-
farmers and farmers tilling their own land were in the proportion
of something like one to nine, a proportion which probably still
holds good for the same Provinces. Farms too, as a rule, are of
moderate size, there being in Ontario comparatively few holdings
of over 200 acres. Of the total number of landholders already
given, over 223,000 held between 50 and 200 acres, while of the
remainder, holding less than 50 and more than 200 acres, the
majority were in Quebec, where, on the one hand, the French
law of inheritance leads to the subdivision of the land among
families, and, on the other, the old French Seigniories have
established and perpetuated a class of large landed proprietors
with their tenant-farmers.
The tenant-farmer in Ontario knows that, by the exercise of
industry and frugality, he can become proprietor of as much land
as he can turn to good account. If he is not able, or does not
desire to purchase the farm of which he is tenant, he may obtain
an allotment of Free-Grant land from Government, or he may
purchase wild land which can be had from Government at an
average price of one dollar per acre. If he is within easy dis-
tance of the land so acquired, the farmer may, with the assistance
of his family, clear a great portion of it in the winter, while he
still continues to cultivate the farm of which he is tenant. Or if
the new land is further away he may construct a log cabin and
fulfil the conditions of residence during the season when ordi-
nary farm work cannot be done, and at the same time clear the
AN OLD STRATHNAVER MAN'S BALLAD. 367
new land. In this way, in the course of a few years, he may
remove to a farm of which he is proprietor, and which will by
that time have been sufficiently cleared to enable him to live
upon it, and parts of which will probably have borne several
crops before the owner comes to reside upon it permanently. But
even should this method of acquiring a farm of his own not be
possible to a tenant-farmer on account of his distance from the
Free-Grant or unsettled lands, he may, if he is industrious and
careful, easily acquire a cleared farm as proprietor. Land is
cheap and plentiful, and Ontario is full of loan companies who
are always anxious to do business, and who do a large and in
almost every case a safe as well as profitable business, and the
acquisition of a farm for himself is made all the more easy to the
tenant-farmer by the fact that he can borrow money, not only on
the security of the farm itself, but of the stock and crop on it.
K. M'D.
( To be continued.)
AN OLD STRATHNAVER MAN'S BALLAD.
Composed on the occasion of opposing the nomination of a certain Nobleman as
Patron of the Glasgow Northern Benevolent Society.
TUNE—" WhcW be King but Charlie. "
When I was a young, a thoughtless lad,
Along the banks of Naver — (!)
Soldiering was then the trade
That got us lands and favour !
Come Angus, come Ronald, come Iver and Donald,
No men on earth are braver ;
If you but list, the lands then, trust,
Are your's, said Factor Shaver.
It was our fate to take the bait
Laid out by Factor Slaver;
With coats of red, to fire and blood,
We sped from Shin and Naver !
Yes, Angus and Ronald, and Iver and Donald,
To Ireland went to save her ;
The croppies fled, with wounds and dread —
No corps than ours was braver.
368 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
When peace came round, our lands we found,
By Donnan, Shin, and Naver ;
Where our forbears, for thousand years,
Had crops, and flocks, and favour.
Then Angus and Ronald, and Iver and Donald,
Had mutton and beef of flavour,
Had sheep and wool, and pantries full,
And dainties sweet of savour.
But soon, alas ! it came to pass, *
That sheep got high in favour ;
The lady grand, that claimed our land,
Was led by Factor Slave-her !
When Angus and Ronald, and Iver and Donald,
Who'd fight and die to save her,
In sad dismay, were forced away
From Donnan, Shin, and Naver !
This, then, the promise of the land,
Was broke by Factor Shaver ;
His rude command none could withstand,
Or plans, his wealth to favour !
Though Angus and Ronald, and Iver and Donald,
Might say the lands of Naver
Were their's, deserved as long preserved,
By their forefathers' valour !
Theories, ready to dupe our lady,
Were broached by Factor Crave-her;
To his command she did attend,
To heartless plans he drave her !
Poor Angus and Ronald, and Iver and Donald,
Distressed, perplexed, did waver ;
While Factor Greed, with reckless speed,
Seized on the best of Naver !
Factor Vaults, with Jezebel faults,
Has never lost her favour,
Nor Factor Lake, who wrote and spake
That sour of sweet did savour !
While Angus and Ronald, and Iver and Donald,
The men the lands that gave her,
Must now give place to Southron race,
Not better yet nor braver !
Far worse than Egypt's wasting plaguesj
Wrought dismal desolation,
Glens, straths — yes, parishes at once —
Were swept of population !
AN OLD STRATHNAVER MAN'S BALLAD. 369
Yet Angus and Ronald, and Iver and Donald,
Thus brought to faint starvation,
Were told that now, without a plough,
Their state was exaltation.
The Factors crammed them on hard moors,
Unfit for fir plantation,
Where neither sheep, nor hen, could keep
Itself from bleak starvation !
Where Angus and Ronald, and Iver and Donald,
Sunk deep in degradation
(To Highland race, a foul disgrace),
As paupers on the nation !
Yet finest land, is left to stand,
Quite in a state of nature,
Without a dyke, or drain, or plough,
Or trace of human creature !
While Angus and Ronald, and Iver and Donald,
Men of strength and stature,
Are languishing without a plough,
On moors of grimest feature !
Twenty thousand, 'long the shores, *
'Mongst rocks and moors are starving,
Without a prospect any more
To rise by their deserving !
While trampled o'er they're by a score,
Who all the power reserving,
Of hoarding princely wealth in store,
As clear to all observing !
Some went down to Glasgow town,
Got on, though some are weavers —
But suiting best, the more went west,
To chase the elks and beavers !
Where Angus and Ronald, and Iver and Donald,
Who did their best endeavour,
Got to their feet, with crops of wheat,
Far off from Factor Shaver !
THE ROYAL COMMISSION.— The evidence led in the Isle of Skye alone is
admitted on all hands to have more than justified the issue of the Royal Commission,
by the Government, to enquire into the grievances of the Highland crofters. The
landlords stand aghast at the disclosures already made, in spite of the terror under
which some of the witnesses gave their evidence.
* Dornoch and elsewhere along the Coast.
3;o THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
THE HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS.
By the EDITOR.
VI.
ALLAN CAMERON'S reign proved one of the most cloudy and dis-
astrous in the history of the clan, though he was one of its bravest
and most distinguished chiefs. His constant feuds with the
Mackintoshes and with the Earls of Huntly and Argyll kept
him in constant hot water, and in the end he lost the greater
portion of the lands which had been acquired by his predecessors ;
while he was, for a time at least, at the same time compelled to
acknowledge Argyll as his superior, and to hold the remaining
portion of his lands as this Earl's vassal. The family Seannachie
gives a most interesting, and on the whole correct, narrative of
these and of the other local feuds which occurred during Allan's
rule, and we shall draw upon him pretty freely in this chapter.
He describes how Mackintosh resolved to be revenged upon
Cameron of Lochiel for past raids into his country, and how for
that purpose he prevailed upon the Earl of Argyll, whose sister he
had married, to invade Lochaber from the .West, while, with all
the forces he could raise, he himself attacked him from the North,
expecting that he would thus compel his antagonist to submit to
such terms as he would be pleased to offer him. Lochiel, though
he knew nothing of this confederacy, was so much on his guard,
that Mackintosh found him quite prepared to stop his passage
across the Lochy. Both parties continued inactive for several
days. But provisions at last failing him, Mackintosh was reduced
to great straits, Lochiel's party increased daily, and there was no
appearance of the expected assistance to his opponent from
Argyll ; so that Mackintosh was ultimately obliged to take ad-
vantage of the night by beating a retreat. Lochiel, suspecting
that a stratagem was intended by his opponent, pursued him
with great caution, until, convinced that the enemy had really
retired, he would have been glad to have overtaken him and
given him battle, but Mackintosh was soon out of reach.*
* History of the Mackintoshes > pp. 298-99,
HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS. 371
No sooner had Allan returned to the Isle of Lochiel, where
he then lived, than he was informed of the arrival of another body
of the enemy from the West, which not a little surprised him ;
for he was far from expecting any invasion from that quarter.
This force was commanded by Campbell of Ardkinlas, who
drew up his men, about 800, at Achinloinbeg, opposite the island,
but on being informed that the Mackintoshes had left, he retired to
Inchdoricher, where he was well sheltered, and resolved to re-
main there for the night.
Lochiel, who had that morning dispersed his followers, imme-
diately issued orders to have them again convened with all haste,
and with his ordinary servants, only eleven in number, he man-
aged to find his way, by private paths, where the Campbells had
encamped, and having carefully viewed them, he resolved to try
to frighten them away with the few followers he had. He thought
the attempt might be made without much danger, for they were
surrounded by lofty hills and dense woods on every side. With
this object he placed his men at suitable distances from each
other, and instructed them to fire, all at once, upon a given signal,
and then to fall upon their faces on the ground. This perform-
ance was repeatedly gone through, and the enemy, several of
whom were killed, became greatly alarmed. Thinking they had
been surrounded on all sides, and afraid to advance or retreat,
they continued where they were until morning, when they hur-
riedly retired and returned home.
But the severe laws that were exacted at the time for reduc-
ing the Highlands and for settling the peace of the country, gave
Allan much more uneasiness than all the power of his enemies,
and in the end did him greater injury. The Ministers of State,
observing that the public were defrauded of the Crown rents and
revenues in many parts, procured an Act of Parliament com-
manding all chiefs and proprietors of estates in the Highlands
and Islands holding of the Crown to appear personally in the
Court of Exchequer before the 2Oth day of May following, under
pain of forfeiture, and not only to exhibit all their charters and
writs, but also to find bail and security to pay the Crown
revenues, to make redress to all parties injured by losses and
damages previously sustained, and to live peaceably in all time
coming.
3;2 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
This was a terrible blow to Lochiel, for he could not appear
in consequence of the sentence of forfeiture and proscription pre-
viously passed against him, and as yet unremoved, "whereby
he lost one of the best estates in the Highlands." All this was
owing to his enemy Mackintosh, who engaged him in the fatal
league with the Earl of Huntly, who not only neglected Lochiel,
contrary to express stipulation when he made his peace with
the King, but with the greatest ingratitude, took advantage of
Cameron's misfortunes.
Lochiel took every means in his power to procure a remission,
so as to enable him to obey the Act of Parliament. But the time
was so short, and the avarice of the courtiers so great (for they
made a good market of these forfeitures), that he did not succeed,
and the Act was vigorously enforced. Lochiel finding himself
thus in the greatest danger of losing his whole estate, and
foreseeing that he would soon be surrounded by a multitude of
new enemies, as it would be the interest of all who shared in it
to reduce his power and keep him down, he resolved to arrange
his differences with Mackintosh, who was willing to accept any
terms which admitted his right of property to the lands in dis-
pute, in the form of a regular treaty. Meantime, Mackintosh,
immediately after his return from Edinburgh, where he went to
Court to obtain new charters to his estate, on giving obedience to
the new Act, invaded Lochaber at the head of a large force.
He was, however, met by Lochiel, who was quite prepared to give
him a warm reception. Friends on both sides interposed, and, in
1 598, brought about an arrangement by which both parties agreed
to the following articles : —
"Mackintosh mortgaged to Lochiel and his heirs one half of the lands in dispute
for the sum of 6000 merks, and gave him the other half for the service of the men
living upon them for 19 years ; LochiePs former title was reserved entire, but forfeit -
able with the money in case he should occasion a rupture of the friendship and amity
then brought about between them, by any subsequent invasion or act of hostility, and
Mackintosh became bound to preserve the same under very severe penalties."
While Lochiel was busy in arranging means for saving or recover-
ing other parts of his property, an accident occurred that discon-
certed all his measures, and drew new enemies upon him.
Donald Maclan of Ardnamurchan, who had been betrothed to
one of Lochiel's daughters, was basely murdered by -his own
uncle, while he was providing himself with a suitable equipage
HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS. 373
for his wedding, which, according to custom of the times, he was
to have celebrated with great magnificence. The murderer, com-
monly known as " Mac Mhic Eoghainn," was a man of gigantic
size and strength, and possessed the district of Suainart on
lease from his nephew, Maclan, whom he killed ; not, it is said, in
resentment of any injury done to him, but with the view of succeed-
ing him in his estate and command of the clan as the next heir. For
Maclan, Lochiel had the highest esteem on account of his many
excellent qualities ; and he no sooner heard of his death than he
determined to revenge it. The murderer, in dread of Lochiel's re-
sentment, fled with all his goods and cattle to the Island of Mull,
to place himself under the protection of Lauchlan Mor Maclean, of
Duart, who was his near relative on the mother's side. Lochiel,
getting information of his precipitate flight, pursued him with
the few men he had about him, not exceeding sixty, and captured
his goods, but notwithstanding the haste he had made, Mac
Mhic Eoghainn himself escaped across the Sound of Mull. Mac-
lean, seeing all that had passed, from the opposite shore, dispatched
his eldest son, Hector, with 220 men, with Mac Mhic Eoghainn
at their head, to recover the goods. Lochiel, now finding himself
obliged to fight, posted his men in an advantageous position,
which largely made up for his deficiency in numbers. Mac
Mhic Eoghainn, armed cap-a-pie, advanced with an air which
indicated the highest contempt for his enemy ; but, feeling warm
under the weight of his armour, he raised his helmet to admit the
fresh air. One of Lochiel's archers at once observed this, and,
taking his unerring aim, he pierced him in the fore-head with
an arrow, killing him on the spot.
The death of Mac Mhic Eoghainn so dispirited his followers
that Lochiel secured an easy victory over them. Hector Maclean
and twenty of his party were taken prisoners, but Lochiel imme-
diately released them without ransom. Lachlan Mor himself
crossed the Sound of Mull during the action, and pursued Lochiel
with a much larger force than his own, but he managed to escape
without much loss.
Maclean was at the time engaged in a feud with the Mac-
donalds of Islay, in which he was soon after mortally wounded,
when he expressed his grief that he had so much offended his
nephew, Lochiel, " for," said he, "he is the only chief in the High-
2 A
374 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE,
lands of sufficient courage, conduct, and power to revenge my
death, and I am confident that, if I had not injured arid provoked
him in the manner I have done, he would not have allowed him-
self much rest till he had effected it" Lochiel was no sooner in-
formed of these remarks and the death of his uncle than he re-
solved to be revenged. He marched against the Macdonalds of
Islay at the head of his clan, defeated them in a bloody battle, and
took Hector Maclean of Lochbuy, who aided the Macdonalds
against his own chief, with several of his followers, prisoners of
war, and detained them in chains for six months. Lochbuy,
however, soon after had ample opportunity of being even with
Lochiel.
This adventure gave Lochiel's enemies great advantage over
him at Court, where his son John, a young man of great ability,
was busily engaged in negotiating a settlement, and was in a fair
way of succeeding. But those who expected to get possession of
the portions of his lands contiguous to their own, exaggerated
everything against him so much, that they, in the end, prevailed.
* The Lord Kintail, predecessor to the Earl of Seaforth, got the
estates of Lochalsh, Lochcarron, and Strome, from Sir Alexander
Hay, the Secretary of State, who was the King's donatory to
these arid all the other forfeitures. The lands of Laggan, and
Achadrome, Invergarry, .Balnane, and others, were obtained by
the Laird of Glengarry and the Baron of Lovat, and his several
estates in Lochaber fell to the share of others. In a word, he was
stripped of the whole, except the disputed lands of Glenbuy and
Locharkike, which he still peaceably enjoyed by virtue of his late
treaty with Mackintosh," which had been entered into in 1 598.
In this unfortunate predicament, Lochiel found it prudent to
arrange matters with those who had obtained rights to his northern
estates, because they lay so far away, and were not inhabited by
his own clansmen. But as to his Lochaber lands, he resolved to
retain the possession of them at all hazards.
The estate of Lochiel had been purchased from the Secretary,
by Hector Maclean of Lochbuy, for a very small sum. But that
gentleman finding, after several fruitless attempts, that he could
not secure possession, in 1609, made it over to the Earl of Argyll,
for the sum of 400 merks, the very same amount that he had
paid for it himself. Argyll's design in this purchase was probably
HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS. 375
not to keep the estate for himself, but seems rather- to have been
with the view of augmenting his power, by forcing Lochiel to
hold it direct from himself before he would consent to restore it.
Several meetings took place between them, but they were unable
to agree upon terms. The whole question was then submitted to
his Majesty, and Clanranald — whose mother Allan had married
some years before — was employed to negotiate for Lochiel at
Court.
The King had succeeded to the English crown in 1603, and
though he was " naturally merciful and just, yet he was somewhat
too credulous, and very apt to take impressions from such as
were about him, whereby he was often exposed to the artifice of
subtle and designing politicians ; many innocent persons suffered
by this foible. But especially, after his going to England, where,
being at a distance, he had not the opportunity to examine
matters as he ought, and probably would have done, had he been
nearer. Of this the unfortunate Clan Macgregor afford us a
melancholy instance." The King was so prejudiced against them
that he resolved to get them utterly extirpated, and not only
did he give the Earl of Argyll a commission to carry out his
purpose, but wrote to all the chiefs and others of power in the
Highlands to assist him vigorously — promising high rewards
to such as should contribute most to the destruction of the
Macgregors. Lochiel " was often solicited to join in that cruel
confederacy, but he was too well acquainted with their story
to comply until the necessity of his own affairs obliged him ;
for his Majesty would hear of nothing in his justification
upon any other terms, so that he was in the end forced to
enter into indentures with the Earl of Argyll, as his Majesty's
Lieutenant, and the Earl of Dunbar, Lord Treasurer, whereby
the King became obliged not only to restore him to his
estate, holding of the crown, but likewise to receive him as his
tenant and vassal for the lands of Glenlui and Locharkig ; and,
in a word, to free him from all dependence and vassalage of any
sort. The contract contains several other conditions in favour
of Lochiel, who, though he never designed to injure the proscribed
Macgregors, his faithful friends, yet he thought there was no
crime in embracing that opportunity to recover his estate, and
ingratiate himself with his Majesty. Clanranald was also a party
376 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
to all these contracts, in behalf of his father-in-law, whom he
served with uncommon zeal. He was a youth of extraordinary
qualities, a polite courtier, and very adroit in the management of
business. He had formerly, in name of Lochiel, agreed with the
Earl of Argyll respecting the Barony of Lochiel, the terms of
which were submitted to the King. With these two contracts he
set out, and upon his arrival at Salisbury, where the Court then
resided, he found a ready compliance from the King to all his
demands ; for his indignation against the Macgregors was as
strong as ever. This appears from his letter to Lochiel, Where-
in, after reciting Clanranald's negotiations, with the conditions of
the two indentures, his Majesty is pleased to ratify them in the most
ample manner, and assures him that, upon performances of the ser-
vices thereby stipulated, they should be executed and fulfilled, and
the charters and rights to his estate expedited, according to law.
' Your neighbour,' continues his Majesty, ' hath likeways shown
unto us the articles set down and agreed upon betwixt the Earl
of Argyll and him, concerning the prosecution of our said service,
whereby the Earl hath submitted unto us his right and title ac-
claimed by him to your lands of Lochiel, and hath promitted to
underly, and perform what we shall decern thereanent. You
may be very glad that the Earl hath taken this course, for we
shall so determine in that matter for your welfare and security, as
in reason, equity, and justice we ought to do; and if your right to
these lands be not good, we will be a means that the Earl shall
make the same better ; and, therefore, we will desire you, as you
would have us blot out of our memory your former life, and to
esteem and protect you, as our own vassal, tenant, and good sub-
ject, that you go on faithfully and carefully in this service, and
prosecute the same to the final end thereof, in such form as you
shall receive directions from the Earl of Argyll, our Lieutenant;
and, in the meantime, that you seek all good occasions whereby
you may do some service by yourself, and how soon the same is
ended, you shall do well to repair to us that you may receive your
promised reward, and understand our further pleasure concerning
such other services as we shall employ you in," &c.
His Majesty also promises to cause the Marquis of Huntly
to do him justice with respect to a difference which existed be-
tween'them, and of which hereafter,
GAELIC NAMES OF PLANTS. 37;
Lochiel declined to attack the Macgregors. They had often
aided him in his wars, and he was too well acquainted with their
sad story to act the barbarous part that was assigned to him by the
commission. Rather than be concerned in such horrid barbarities
he preferred to treat with Argyll direct with the view to recover a
legal title to the estate of Lochiel ; and he submitted in the end
to terms which he had often previously refused. He agreed to
renounce his former title, and to take a charter from Argyll in
favour of his son John, holding the estate of him and his heirs
taxt-ward, and paying yearly the sum of 100 merks Scots feu-
duty. This bargain was concluded on the 22nd of August 1612 ;
the sum which he paid to Argyll, as the price of the lands, being
400 merks, the same sum as his lordship had previously paid
Lochbuy for it.
(To be continued.)
GAELIC NAMES OF PLANTS. By JOHN CAMERON.
Edinburgh : William Blackwood & Sons. 1883.
MR CAMERON, in his " Gaelic Names of Plants," has taken up
a subject which is practically new, and which certainly is interest-
ing, as well as scientifically important. But the advantage of
freshness of subject is often counterbalanced by the great diffi-
culty there is in dealing with a new subject, and this difficulty is
very much increased in the case of popular botany in general,
and Gaelic botany in particular. Even under the most
favourable circumstances, it is often very difficult to reduce the
vagueness of the popular names to anything like strict scientific
truth, and in the case of the Gaelic names of plants that
difficulty is more than doubled, for latterly English names have
asserted their place instead of the less special or less general
Gaelic names, which have been, perhaps, forgotten, and are likely
enough not recorded in the dictionaries; and, further, many native
names are being lost, because the necessity for, and the interest
in, herbal knowledge is on the wane. There is, consequently, a
difficulty of assigning the Gaelic names we possess correctly, for,
as Mr Cameron says, " the difficulty of the ordinary botanical
student is here reversed : he has the plant, but cannot tell the
name — here the name existed, but the plant required to be found
378 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
to which the name applied." Perhaps no people have ever been
keener observers of nature than the Celts ; their power of grasping
the salient points of a landscape, for example, and so naming it, is
attested by the graphic topographical names our country possesses.
And Mr Cameron's work is a further testimony to the general
fact of the Gael's keenness of observation, and to the particular
fact of the minute knowledge he had of trivial differences in plants,
as attested by the names used. No subject can better show the
strong objectivity of Gaelic poetry than this ; in fact, such a poet
as Duncan Ban is painfully minute in his names and descriptions
of plants and flowers ; a good-sized dictionary could be made
even from the names in his poems ! But nothing can be finer
than the stanza in his brother poet's "Aged Bard's Wish,"
where he pictures himself reclining amid the flowers :—
" Biodh sobhrach bhhn a's aillidh snuadh,
Mu'n cuairt do m' thulaich 's uain' fo dhriuchd,
'S an nebinean beag ri m' lamh air cluain,
'S an ealbhuidtt aig mo chluais gu h-ur."
In Gaelic lyric poetry and song, plants and flowers afforded the
richest field for similes and metaphors ; a characteristic couplet
may be quoted —
" Do ghruaidh mar r6s
'S do ph6g mar ubhal."
Of course, the aspects of nature were of more importance to
earlier men than to us, who are comfortably housed and fed,
compared with them; and especially were plants and flowers
more vitally important to them than to the dilettanteism of
modern popular botany, for plants stood to them in the relation
of drug-shop and drysaltery, besides their use for charms and
badges.
Mr Cameron has done an excellent piece of work in this
book. He has struggled energetically, and pretty successfully,
with the difficulty of the subject; he has undertaken numerous
journeys into the Highlands among the Gaelic-speaking popu-
lation " in order, if possible, to settle disputed names, to fix the
plant to which the name was applied, and to collect others pre-
viously unrecorded." Such disinterested energy and labour de-
serve our heartiest commendations, and all the more so when at-
tended with such success. Mr Cameron acknowledges his
indebtedness to the various vocabularies and dictionaries that
GAELIC NAMES OF PLANTS. 379
have preceded his work, and more especially to the " Flora
Scotica" of Lightfoot, to which Mr Stuart of Killin contributed
the Gaelic names. We are sorry that he has not indicated more
pointedly his great indebtedness to the articles by Mr Charles
Fergusson, gardener a few years ago at Raigmore, which ap-
peared in the Celtic Magazine, vol. iv.; though, in the body of his
book, Mr Cameron quotes freely from these articles, simply ac-
knowledging them as from " Fergusson."
The scientific part of the work, that is, the classification of
the plants, is in full accord with the most approved views on this
subject, and the names of each class, sub-class, and individual
plant, are given in all the barbarous panoply of scientific Latin.
Copious indices, both Gaelic and English, will enable the ordi-
nary reader to find any plant he wishes under its proper class and
sub-class. Each individual article gives, first, the scientific name
in Latin or Latinised Greek ; then comes the English name, and
after it the Gaelic, and, where possible, the Irish name ; and
even the Welsh name appears not unfrequently. Thereafter, Mr
Cameron, as a rule, discusses the etymology of the Gaelic name,
and there generally follow brief but pregnant references to the
popular medicinal use of the plant, the superstitions attached to
it, the practical use made of it in dyeing and other purposes,
and, lastly, if it be a clan badge, the fact is stated. Historical
accounts of the plants, indicating whether they are native or im-
ported, are not given, an unfortunate omission, in consequence
of which we often cannot appreciate the Gaelic name at its true
value. Many of the Gaelic names given are mere variations or
translations of the English. For instance, the plane-tree appears
under the Gaelic name of plinntrinn, a clear corruption of the
English name; yet Mr Fergusson says the tree is native to the
Highlands, though, from Mr Cameron's work, we should be in
doubt about it. Mr Cameron deprecates the wrath of Gaelic
purists in regard to the want of uniformity in the orthography,
especially as between Irish and Scotch Gaelic, and in this matter
we heartily sympathise with him. There are several misprints in
the Gaelic, especially in the poetry quoted, and among these we
would fain place "luachair bog" for " luachair bhog." But these
are small blemishes on excellent work.
Mr Cameron cannot, however, be let off so easily in the
38o THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
matter of etymology. It is scarcely prudent in the unsettled
state of Gaelic etymology to venture on the derivation of the
Gaelic names at all. If this must be done, it was plainly
Mr Cameron's duty to consult the best authorities, instead of
such semi-scientific writers as Canon Bourke. Zeuss, Ebel, and
Stokes, the proper authorities, are ignored. Mr Cameron's ety-
mology is, as a rule, simply atrocious, and when he is right, he is
so more by chance than for any scientific reason. He quotes
Bourke's derivation of robur : " ro, excelling, and Celtic bur, de-
velopment" A glance at Lewis & Short's Latin Dictionary
would have saved him from this error. In other places he pro-
perly rejects so-called Celtic roots, most of which are mere inven-
tions. " Fir" he says, " in English, comes from the Greek pur,
fire, because good for fire" ! That is a good enough derivation
for a hundred years ago, when there was no science of language,
and no Skeat or Max Muller to consult. As a consequence, in
this very matter of the derivation of " fir," he loses one of the
acutest pieces of scientific reasoning that the science of language
can boast of. Max Muller draws attention to the fact that the
names for fir, oak, and beech interchange in the different Euro-
pean languages. For instance, the Sanskrit root dar means a
tree, and appears in the English word " tree" itself, while in Gaelic
and Greek the same root means oak. Again, pJtegus in Greek is
oak, in Latin fagus is the beech, and the English " beech" is from
the same root. Curiously there does not appear to be a proper
Gaelic word for beech. Further, the English word "fir" is allied
in root to Latin quercus, oak, and to the Gaelic craobh and crann.
We have, then, in these tree-names interchanges of this kind :
what is tree in Gaelic is oak in Latin and fir in English ; what is
oak in Gaelic is tree in English. Why is this? Probably, as
Max Muller would say, the Celts arrived in Europe when fir was
predominant, and retained the name fir as a general word even
when the fir was superseded by the oak in the bronze age, while
the Teutons may have arrived only in the oak age (dar, root),
and extended the name similarly to the general signification of
tree. At any rate, such guesses are scientifically based, whereas
Mr Cameron's etymology is indifferent to scientific principles.
The book is well got up, on the whole highly creditable to
the author, and is a work without which no Celtic library can be
considered complete.
3*1
THE HIGHLAND DRESS.
BY J. G. MACKAY.
IV. — HIGHLAND ARMS.
" 'N diugh fein," thuirt Mac-Stairn, "an diugh fein
Briseam sa' bheinn an t-sleagh.
'Maireach bidh do righ-sa gun ghleus
Agus Suaran 's a threin aig fleagh."
"Am maireach biodh fleagh aig an triath,"
Thuirt righ Mhoirbheinn fo fhiamh-ghair',
" 'N-diugh cuiream an comhrag air sliabh,
'S briseadhmaid an sgiath bu shar.
Oisein, seas suas ri mo laimh,
Ghaill, togsa do lann, fhir mhdir ;
Fhearghuis, tarruing taifeid nach mall ;
Tilgs' Fhillein, do chrann bu chorr.
Togaibhs' 'ur sgiathan gu h-ard,
Mar ghealach fo sgail' san speur ;
Biodh 'ur sleaghan mar theachdair a' bhais ;
Leanuibh, leanuibh mo chliu 's mi f&n ;
Bi'bh coimeas do chiad sa' bhlar."
OSSIAN.
The sword appears to have been a common weapon of the
Celtic nations. Those used by the Highlanders were of great
length, double edged, and formed to cut and thrust The most
ancient seems to be the two-handed sword with the cross guards.
This is the original ClaidJieamh-inbr, and was a terrible weapon in
the hands of a powerful warrior. From its length and unwieldiness
it was not so suitable for close quarters, the swordsman having
frequently to step back in order to deal a blow; but at the
requisite distance it did terrible execution. The strength of a
man was indicated by the length of his sword. Fraoch, a cele-
brated Celtic warrior, is represented as carrying one as broad as
the plank of a ship. The sword, preserved in Dumbarton Castle,
said to be the weapon used by the great Scottish patriot Wallace,
is of enormous length, though it wants the point.
The basket hilt, same as now seen, is also of considerable
antiquity. It is used with the one hand, the basket forming a
complete guard for the hand, and by its weight balancing the long
and heavy blade. These blades were also straight, two-edged
382 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
formed to cut and thrust, and had a double channel from the hilt
to within a few inches of the point. The Island of Islay was at
one time famous for the manufacture of these hilts, on account of
which they were frequently called lann a chinn Hick. A great
many blades were imported from the Continent, but those of
Spanish manufacture were most prized. We find frequent
mention made of them in the works of the Gaelic bards.
Alexander Macdonald says in Oran do Phrmnnsa Tearlach —
" 'S bhiodh am feileadh 'san fhasan,
Mar ri gartanan sgarlaid,
Feile cuaich air bhachd easgaid;
Paidhir phiostal 's lann Spainnteach"
The Highlanders were not, however, without swordmakers
of their own, besides the many smiths and armourers in different
parts of the country, who supplied their kinsmen with weapons.
There was one, the excellence of whose blades has not even yet
been surpassed. This was the great Andrea Ferrara. He was
able to make armour that could resist the best Sheffield-made
arrow heads, and to make sword blades that would vie with the
best weapons of Toledo and Milan. He is supposed to have
learned the art in the Italian city of that name (after which he is
named), and to have practised it in secrecy somewhere in the
Highlands of Banffshire. His blades were tempered to such a
degree that the point could be made to touch the hilt, and spring
back uninjured ; the old saying, " The claymore may bend but
never break," has probably arisen from the excellence of those
blades.
He is said to have worked in a dark cellar underground, so
as to enable him to see the effect of the heat on the metal, and to
watch the nicety of the tempering, and at the same time to pre-
serve the secrecy of his art. Several of his blades are still to be
seen, and are very highly prized, so much so, that some unscru-
pulous persons have stamped his name on blades of spurious
manufacture, in order to pass them off as his make. The forgery
is, however, easily detected, the name being struck into the blade
by means of a stamp. It may be seen to be modern; the name on
the genuine blades is cut with a chisel, is not so even or regular,
and is worn with the blade.
We have recently made a discovery which, we believe, may
THE HIGHLAND DRESS. 383
have something to do with the excellence of Ferrara's blades.
One of his blades, which was very much corroded with rust, was
sent to a cutler to polish ; being very much worn, it had to be
ground down considerably, when a different colour of metal was
discernible in several parts of the blade. On examination it was
found to be made up of three pieces of metal beautifully welded
together, the centre being of highly tempered iron, over which
was a covering of steel, welded together at the edges and
magnificently tempered. The object of such a combination is
apparent, having thus the. strength of the iron and the edge of
the steel, while the action of the one part on the other gave it its
peculiar elasticity.
The Highlanders put very great value on the Claidheamh-
mbr. They frequently ornamented them with mottoes and
devices, inciting the owner to deeds of daring and honour. We
have seen one with the suitable motto —
" Na tarruing mi gun aobhar,
'S na gleidh mi gun onair."
It was also customary to call them by some descriptive name,
frequently from the name of the maker, or some incident in its
history. This was a very ancient custom, and was practised in the
days of Ossian. Fingal's sword was titled the Son of Luna, after
a famous smith of that name. Ossian celebrates the smith's
praises, and mentions the titles of the swords of the various
Fingalian heroes in the following descriptive poem : —
" O'b' aighearach sinn an dara mhaireach,
Ann an ceardach Luin 'ic Liomhain;
Gu'm bu mhaith ar n' ur-chlaidh'ne,
'S ar deagh shleaghan foda righne.
B'e Mac an Luin lann Mhic Cumhail,
Nach d' fhag fuigheal riabh dh' fheoil daoine ;
Gu'm b'i'n Drui'-lannach lann Oscair,
'S gu'm b'i Chosgarrach lann Chaoillte.
Gu'm bi Liomhanach lann Dhiarmaid,
B'iomadh fear fiadhaich a mharbh i ;
'S agam fein bha Gearr-nan-calan,
Bu gharg farum 'n am nan garbh-chath."
On the death of ancient warriors their arms were frequently
buried along with them, and also their favourite hound, whether
to show their occupation, or from a belief that they might require
them beyond the grave, it is difficult to say. Even in our own
384 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
day it is customary to place the arms of a departed warrior on
his coffin till the time of interment. Of the burial of Diarmid
and Graine, Ossian sings —
" Chairich sinn an dithis san raon,
A bhogha 'sa shleagh ri taobh Dhiarmaid ;
'S le Graine thaisgeadh leinn an guineach
A lot a muineal, 's a braghad."
The burial of the sons of Uisneach is also described as fol-
lows : —
" An tri sgiath a 's an tri sleagha
Anns an leabai chumhainn chuireadh ;
'S chaireadh an tri chlaidheana cruaidhe
Sint' an s6imh-uaigh nan cathan ;
An tri choin 's an tri seabhaig leithir,
Le 'n trie a bheirte gach buaidh sheilge."
Among the Highlanders the sword was handed down from
father to son for many generations; and the idea of a youth bear-
ing his father's sword was enough to nerve his arm and stimulate
him to deeds of glory. This feeling is also beautifully illustrated
in the lines of " The Irish Minstrel Boy" —
" The Minstrel boy to the war is gone,
In the ranks of death you'll find him ;
His father's sword he has girded on,
And his wild harp slung behind him, —
* Land of Song,' said the warrior-bard,
' Tho' all the world betrays thee,
One s^vonl at least thy rights shall guard,
One faith/til harp shall praise thee.' "
To retain untarnished the glorious fame of their ancestors,
was one of the proudest traits of the Celtic character ; it was at
all times the dying injunction of the Celtic warrior to his sorrow-
ing children, and, perhaps, there is no command that has oftener
been given or more strictly adhered to than the words of Fingal —
" Lean gu dluth ri cliu do shinnsear,
'S na dibir a bhi mar iadsan."
The old warrior shows how he was himself imbued with this
feeling, in his words to Oscar —
" ' Mhic mo mhic,' thuirt an righ,
'Oscair na stri, 'na t-oige,
Chunnam do chlaidheamh nach min;
Bha m' uaill mu m' shinnsear m6r.
Leansa cliu na dh'aom a chaoidh ;
Mar d' aithraiche biosa fein,' "
THE HIGHLAND DRESS. 385
After all that has come and gone, it is wonderful the hold this
feeling has still on the Highland character. Let the poor High-
lander be ever so lowly, ever so much oppressed, he still retains
the noble sentiment that causes him to respect himself, should it
be only for the memory of the departed. It is this feeling that
has enabled our Highland soldiers to accomplish feats which
would be impossible to any other, and even yet, though only the
wrecks of their former selves, the renown of their ancient glory
has created such an esprit de corps as to be infectious, even to
John Bull himself.
Say to a Highland boy, "Cuimhnich na daoine bho'n d'thainig
dhu," and he immediately accomplishes a task which previously
was unsurmountable. Long may this feeling form a trait in the
Highland character.
The loss of a sword in battle was considered an everlasting
disgrace. Donnachadh Ban, who was present at the battle of
Falkirk, as a substitute for another, " considering discretion the
best part of valour," in his haste to secure his own safety, lost
his employer's sword. On presenting himself for his hire, he
was refused payment without delivering the sword. If Duncan
was devoid of courage on the field of battle, he was not without
the means of having his revenge : he composed a song on the
battle, in which he chastises the owner of the sword, and excuses
himself for its loss as follows : —
" 'Nuair a chruinnich iad na'n ceudan,
'N la sin air sliabh na h-eaglais
Bha ratreud air luchd na Beurla,
'S ann daibh fein a b-eigin teicheadh.
Ged a chaill mi anns an &m sin
Claidheamh ceannart Chloinn-an-Leisdeir,
Claidheamh bearnach a mhi-fhortain,
'S ann bu choltach e ri greidlein."
The claymore continued to be worn by the Highland Regi-
ments till about the middle of the American War, when, by an
order from the War Office, it was laid aside by the private soldiers.
Very great dissatisfaction was felt at this change, for, besides the
partiality of the men to their favourite weapon, it was shown
several times that the broadsword, in the grasp of a firm hand, is
a better weapon in close fighting than the bayonet. General
Stewart says —
386 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
" If the first push of the bayonet misses its aim, or happens to be parried, it is
not easy to recover the weapon, and repeat the thrust, if the enemy is bold enough to
stand firm ; but it is not so with the sword, which may be readily withdrawn from its
blow, wielded with celerity, and directed to any part of the body, particularly to the
head and arms ; while its motions defend the person using it."
We might give many instances of the expertness of Highland-
ers in handling the sword, and the success with which, on many
occasions, they opposed the most disciplined troops, though armed
with all the modern implements of warfare. A few such anec-
dotes may not be uninteresting.
In the year 1654, a body of English soldiers (some accounts
say 300) were sent from the garrison at Inverlochy to kill Loch-
iel's cattle, and destroy the woods on his property, so as to leave
no place of concealment for the Camerons, who were very trouble-
some to the garrison. Lochiel, having heard of the expedition,
resolved to frustrate the attempt, and hastily collecting 36 of his
followers, they met the Englishmen as they were landing. The
one-half of the soldiers carried axes to fell the woods, while the
others were armed to protect them.
The Camerons concealed themselves among the trees till the
English were landed, when they let fly a shower of arrows, and
then rushed on them, claymore in hand. The English, who were
armed with muskets and bayonets, fired a volley on the Camerons
as they were rushing down the beach, but with no effect. The
combat was short, but obstinate. The Englishmen fought with
coolness and intrepidity, but they were soon driven into the sea,
the Highlanders following them into the water up to the chin.
One of the soldiers, having managed to get into a boat, was in
the act of taking aim at Lochiel, when the latter dived his head
under water, escaping so narrowly that the bullet grazed his head.
Another marksman was foiled by the affection of Lochiel's
foster-brother, who threw himself between the Englishman and
the object of his aim, and was killed by the ball intended for his
chief.
During the engagement, the English officer, who was reputed
an excellent swordsman, besides being a very powerful man,
singled out Lochiel for a personal encounter. Lochiel having
disarmed the officer, the latter sprang on to him, and in the
struggle Which followed, they both fell to the ground, the Eng-
THE HIGHLAND DRESS. 387
lishman above. He was in the act of grasping at his sword,
which lay near the place where they fell, when the chief, seeing no
other chance, grasped him by the throat with his teeth, and held
him so firmly as to choke him. He was afterwards heard to say
that it was the sweetest morsel that ever he had tasted.
As most readers will be familiar with the details of the vari-
ous battles fought between the Highlanders and the regular
troops during Montrose's campaigns and the two rebellions, it
may be more interesting to give a few anecdotes of personal en-
counters.
At the battle of Aboukir, Serjeant John Macrae, of the
Ross-shire Highlanders, single-handed, killed six of the enemy
with his broadsword, when at last he made a dash out of the
ranks on a Turk, whom he cut down. He was killed by a blow
from behind, as he was returning to the square.
John Campbell, an Argyllshire man, a soldier in the Black
Watch, did a similar feat at Fontenoy. Having killed nine men,
single-handed, with the claymore, his arm was carried away by a
cannon ball on attacking the tenth.
At Culloden, Gillies Macbain, seeing the Campbells attack-
ing the Highland army by means of a breach made in a wall,
attacked them as they were coming through the breach, and be-
fore he fell, overpowered by numbers, he made fourteen of his
enemies bite the dust.
William Chisholm, a native of Strathglass, killed sixteen at
Culloden (three of them being troopers) before he was over-
powered. His wife composed a very beautiful and touching
elegy on his death, which is still a great favourite in the North.
In one of the many battles between the Sutherland and
Caithness men, one of the former, named Iain Mor Riabhach Mac-
kay, committed a terrible havoc among the Caithness men.
Having taken up his position in a narrow pass through which
they would have to go, he quietly waited the result of the battle,
under the expectation of his own friends being victorious, and, as
the sequel shows, he was not disappointed. The Caithness men,
having been worsted in the battle, fled to their own country, little
knowing who was before them in the pass. On rushed the fugi-
tives, thinking that if the pass was overgained they were safe,
when up jumps Iain M6r, with his huge, two-handed sword, which
388 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
he wielded so successfully that only one Caithness man, like Job's
messenger, got safely home to tell the mournful tale.
Many years after this, when this Strathnaver warrior was on
his deathbed, he was visited by the parish priest, who earnestly
advised him to confess his sins and make a clean breast of it
" Is there anything," inquired the priest, " that lies particularly
heavy on your conscience ?" " No," said he, raising himself with
a great effort, and striking his fist on the pillow, " No, nothing,
but that I let that vagabond of a Caithness man escape me !"
THE LOCHABER AXE.
This was, next to the claymore, the favourite weapon ; and
we can well imagine what a powerful instrument it was in the
hands of a Herculean Highlander. Being furnished with a hook
on the top, it was used for scaling walls) tearing down barricades,
and was well adapted for opposing cavalry ; being fitted with a
long handle, it could reach the rider and pull him down off the
horse, with little danger to the party using it.
THE DIRK OR " BIODAG."
This was both a useful and ornamental arm, and when used
in the left hand, together with the target and claymore, it was a
most deadly weapon, being held in such a position that on any
portion of an opponent's body being left unguarded, it was always
ready for a fatal thrust.
These weapons were great favourites, being so convenient for
a sudden emergency. Besides being serviceable for killing deer
or any other animal, they were furnished with a knife and fork for
carving purposes ; and, latterly, some had a snuff-mull fitted into the
top, but, of course, this must be a comparatively modern addition.
There is a tradition that it was a taunt given to Robert
Bruce, for carving meat with his dirk, that incited him to take
up the cause of his country so quickly. It is said that on one
occasion, after some skirmish between the Scotch and English
(Bruce having been fighting against his countrymen), he was
carving a sirloin of beef with his dirk, when some Englishmen
jeered him on his using the same knife to carve his food as he did
to carve his countrymen. Bruce took the hint in a different way
from what the Englishmen would have wished.
(To be continued.)
THE
CELTIC MAGAZINE.
CONDUCTED BY
ALEXANDER MACKENZIE, • F.S.A., Scot.
No. XCIIL JULY 1883. VOL. VIII.
CELTIC MYTHOLOGY.
BY ALEXANDER MACBAIN, M.A.
III. — THE ARYAN NATION.
FROM the comparison of roots in the various present and
past descendants of the original Aryan tongue, and, in a less
degree, from a comparison of their myths, we are enabled to form
a fair idea of the culture and religion of the Aryans. Not only
can radical elements expressing such objects and relations as
father, mother, brother, daughter, husband, brother-in-law, cow
dog, horse, cattle, ox, corn, mill, earth, sky, water, star, and hun-
dreds more, be found identically the same, in the various branches
of the Aryan tongue, now or sometime spoken, but they can also
be proved to possess the elements of a mythological phraseology
clearly descended from a common source. In the matter of cul-
ture, the Aryans were organised in communities framed on the
model of the patriarchal household. They had adopted a system
of regular marriage with an elaborate grading of kinships and
marriage affinities. In the household the father was king and
priest, for -there was also a family religion ; the wife and the rest
of the family, though subservient to the patria potestas, were far
from being slaves ; while, outside the household, grades and ranks
of nobility or kinship were strictly marked. Comfortable houses
and clustered villages, clearings and stations, with paths and
2 B
390 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE,
roads, were in existence ; the precious metals, together with
copper, tin, and bronze, were in use, but iron was probably un-
known. The domestic animals had long been tamed and named,
for cattle and flocks composed their chief wealth, though the
plough tilled the field and 'corn was grown and crushed in the
mills and querns. They could count to one hundred at the very
least, for the root of c'eud, " kund-rz&" is common to all the
descendant tongues, and they had divided the year into seasons
and months — a fact which is especially proved by the root for
month being taken from the name given to the moon, " the
measurer." They spoke a language that was highly inflected and
complex; that is to say, the relation between words and the
relations of time (or tense) and mood were expressed by changes
in the terminations of words. On the whole, the Aryans were
high in the barbaric state of culture, as opposed, on the one hand
to the savage, and, on the other, to the civilised state of progress.
In regard to Religion and Mythology, the Aryans were in
much the same stage of advancement as in their culture generally.
As their culture and language had required long ages to reach up
to the state of comparative excellence at which they had arrived,
so, too, their religion must have passed through lower phases
until it reached the well-developed cosmos of Aryan times. And
as there are not wanting many signs of those earlier stages of
belief both in Aryan Mythology and in the mythologies of the
descendant nations, it is necessary to glance briefly at what these
stages may have been. Belief in the supernatural exists, and has
existed, in all races of men whose beliefs we have any knowledge
of. The lowest phase of this belief is known as "Animism," and
consists in believing that what is presented to us in our dreams
and visions has a real existence. Savage man makes no distinc-
tion between his dreaming and waking existence. He sees the
" shadows" of the dead in his sleep, and firmly believes in their
objective reality. But not merely the dead alone have shadows
or spirits ; the living, too, have spirits or duplicates of self.
Animals, also, and material objects, have souls, for is not the
dead hero seen in dreams wearing the ghosts of arms — sword
and hatchet, and such like— that he possessed in life? The
worship of ancestors would appear to have been the first form in
which these beliefs took the shape of an active religion or worship
CELTIC MYTHOLOGY. 391
of higher beings. Ancestor worship, though first, is by no means
lost in subsequent stages, for of all forms it is the most persistent
in its survival. Modern China and ancient Rome are prominent
proofs of this fact. From ancestors, it is an easy step to worship
the ghosts of other persons ; sometimes these were looked on as
beneficent, and at other times as maleficent, beings, whose help
was to be invoked or whose wrath was to be deprecated.
Ghosts, ancestral and other, might inhabit natural objects —
trees, rivers, wells, and animals ; and this, combined with the
worship of the actual ghosts of these objects, sometimes gave
rise to " fetishism," so well called the worship of " stocks and
stones." Totemism, again, consists in the worship of a tribal
badge; some clan or nation worship a particular object, gene-
rally an animal, a form of worship which may easily have
sprung from ancestor worship, since the ancestral ghost may
have taken that particular form. Some go so far as to assert
that the names of some of the Highland and Irish clans and
their badges are remnants or remembrances of this worship, and
appeal in proof is especially made to the clan " Chattan," with
its animal crest, the cat. The next stage is the worship of the
nature-spirits, or the natural powers as seen in objects of outward
nature — clouds, lightning, and sky. This gives rise to polytheism
proper, and, perhaps, prior to that, to henotheism, as Max Miiller
has so well named that " totemic" worship of one especial element
of nature, making it for the moment the supreme deity with all
the attributes that are applicable to it embellished and exhausted.
In polytheism the plurality of deities is expressed ; in henotheism
it is implied. Polytheism generally presents a dynastic system of
gods under the rule of one supreme king or father, while heno-
theism implies a co-ordination of deities. " These deities," says Mr
Sayce, " are necessarily suggested by nature; the variety of nature
overpowers in an infantile state of society the unity for which the
mind of man is ever yearning. Gradually, however, the attributes
applied to the objects and powers of nature take the place of the
latter ; the sun becomes Apollo, the storm Ares. Deities are
multiplied with the multiplication of the epithets which the
mythopoeic age changes into divinities and demi-gods, and side
by side with a developed Mythology goes a developed pantheon.
The polytheism, which the infinite variety of nature made inevit-
392 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
able, continues long after the nature -worship that underlay it has
grown faint and forgotten. A time at last comes when even
abstract names have to submit to the common process ; temples
are raised to Terror and Fear, to Love and Reverence ; and the
doom of the old polytheism of nature is at hand. When once the
spirit of divinity has been breathed into abstractions of the
human mind, it cannot be long before their essential unity is
recognised, and they are all summed up under the one higher
abstraction of monotheism."
But this quotation anticipates the history of Aryan Myth-
ology in the descendant nations. Aryan religion itself was a fully
developed henotheism, or rather a polytheism, where the Supreme
Deity was different at different times in the eyes of the same
worshipper. At one time, to take the Vedic hymns as represen-
tative of the oldest and nearest stratum of religious thought to
the Aryan religion, Indra is the only god whom the singer recog-
nises, and he exhausts his religious vocabulary on his praise
alone ; and at another time Varuna receives all worship, at
another it is Agni. Indra represents the heaven-god, more
especially in the view of a rain-giving deity, for the root is
the same as the English water, and is seen also in the sacred
River Indus. Agni is the god of fire ; Varuna, of the canopy of
heaven — the Greek Uranus. Comparing and analysing the ele-
ments of Teutonic, Greek, and Hindu Mythology, for example,
we may arrive at a tolerably clear conception of the Aryan pan-
theon and religious cultus. It would seem the chief deity was
connected with the worship of light ; the shining canopy of
heaven was the head of the Aryan Olympus. The Gaelic word
dia (and diu day); Sanscrit, Dyaus; Greek, Zeus; Latin, deus and
y«-piter; and English, Tiw (as seen in Tuesday), are from the
primitive name of this god, their common root being div> shining.
Hence dia originally meant the bright sky, and Jupiter, the " sky-
father," is the Roman version of " Father in Heaven." Fire, in
all its manifestations, was an especial object of worship ; Agni is
the Vedic name of this diety, which appears in Latin ignis, and
Gaelic ain (heat), but the Gaelic equivalent deity would appear
to have been the « Dagda," or the Great Good Fire. The sun
and moon were prominent among the deities, the sun being the
most in favour, perhaps, of all the gods. The epithets applied to
CELTIC MYTHOLOGY. 393
him are innumerable, and, as a consequence, scarcely two nations
have the same name for the sun-god, and nearly all have one or
two deities that are phases of solar worship. The Sanscrit, surya;
Latin, sol; Greek, Julio s ; English, sun; and Gaelic, solus, present
the chief root the first four actually meaning the " sun," and being
used as the name of the sun-deity often.
And there were other gods hardly inferior to these gods;
such were what we may call the " meteorological" deities — the
regulators of weather and seasons. Prominent among these was
the thunder god, who brings thunder and rain ; in the Vedic
hymns his place is filled by the chief god Indra ; in Latin he is
the Jupiter Tonans ; in the Norse Mythology, he appears as
Thor who is next in importance to Odin himself; and in the
Celtic Mythology, he is known as Taranis. The storm god was
worshipped under the title of Maruts, the Latin Mars, and
Greek Ares. The wind, Vata, the Gaelic gaoth, had a high posi-
tion among the deities, but among the descendant nations its
position is not quite so high, unless we connect with it the god
Hermes, who in Greek Mythology is clearly a wind god both in
his connection with music and as messenger to the gods.
The gods we have hitherto discussed belong to the intangi-
ble objects of nature — the sky, stars, sun, dawn, and, perhaps, so
too the " weather" gods. Max Miiller gives two other possible
classes of deified objects: semi-tangible objects such as trees,
mountains, the sea, the earth. These objects supply the material
for what he calls the semi-deities. And thirdly, lowest of all, are
tangible objects, such as " stocks and stones" and other elements
of fetishism. The worship of semi-tangible objects shows clearly
a remnant of the old animism, for these objects are endowed in
savage culture with spirits of a personal type. "The lowest
races," says Mr Tylor, " not only talk of such nature-spirits, but
deal with them in a thoroughly personal way, which shows how
they are modelled on human souls. Modern travellers have seen
North Americans paddling their canoes past a dangerous place
on the river, and throwing in a bit of tobacco with a prayer to
the river-spirit to let them pass. An African wood cutter who
has made the first cut at a great tree has been known to take the
precaution of pouring some palm-oil on the ground, that the
angry tree-spirit coming out may stop to lick it up, while the
394 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
man runs for his life. The state of mind to which these nature-
spirits belong must have been almost as clearly remembered by
the Greeks, when they could still fancy the nymphs of the lovely
groves and springs and grassy meadows coming up to the council
of the Olympian gods, or the dryads growing with the leafy
pines and oaks, and uttering screams of pain when the wood-
man's axe strikes the trunk." These nature spirits play a most
important part in folk-lore, appearing in the tales of the river
demon, the water kelpie, who drowns his victim in the whirl-
pool ; and in the giants, trolls, and dwarfs, who represent moun-
tain and earth spirits ; the healing waters of sacred wells have
only adopted saints' names in place of the old pagan deity; while
the little elves and fairies of the woods are but dim recollections
of the old forest spirits.
Of magic, a word or two may be said. It must be remem-
bered that the gods could change their shape at pleasure ; their
normal shape "among Aryan nations was the human, but they
could assume the shape of particular men or beasts, or even of
inanimate objects, for Jupiter came into Danae's prison in a
shower of gold. Perseus' magical hat of darkness and shoes of
swiftness belong to the same cloud-changing character. Spells
and enchantments form an important feature of magical powers,
and have their origin in spirit-explanations of the numbing power
of frost, the relaxing power of heat, the power of drugs, as of the
Indian Soma, and doubtless in the magnetic influence exerted by
some men and animals, notably the serpent And if we descend
still lower, we find magic as a rule depend on a false use of
analogies. The Zulu who has to buy cattle may be seen chew-
ing a bit of wood, in order to soften the breast of the seller he is
dealing with, for as the wood gets softer in his mouth, the seller's
heart is supposed also to soften. Such superstitions exist even
in our own country to the present day. The writer of this has
known of a case where a clay body "corpan -creadha," was
actually made and stuck over with nails and pins, and placed
in a stream channel to waste away. As the clay wasted, so with
sharp pangs would waste away the person for whom it was
intended.
The ethical side of the Aryan religion presented some in-
teresting features. The contest between the powers of light and
CELTIC MYTHOLOGY. 395
darkness — Dyaus and Indra on one side against Ahriman or
Vritra, the bright sun-god against the snake-god of darkness,
Apollo strangling the Python, represents a real ethical idea-
good overcoming evil. Sacrifice and prayer, temple and altar,
were known ; and sin and sin-offering were familiar ideas to the
Aryans. A shadowy spirit existence after death was believed
in ; heroes were taken to the halls of the gods, but the kingdom
of Hades was the general abode of spirits, where the good and
the evil got their deserts.
ARYAN MYTHS.
We shall now see how the Aryans dealt in one or two cases
with the actions of their gods, and how this gave rise to a mythi-
cal life history of them in later times. It was around the sun-
god that most of these myths were gathering. Off-spring of
night, whom he slays, he loves the dawn maiden, Daphne —
" rosy-fingered morn," who flies from his embrace over the azure
plains of Heaven, but, Cinderella-like, leaves a golden streak of
light behind her whereby she may be followed and found. The
sun has his toils, too, in the pursuit ; storm-clouds intercept his
path ; at times even the eclipse monster swallows him ; and he
has to toil for mean creatures like men to give them light and
heat, owing to the spells put upon him. But at length he over-
takes, in the evening, his morning love, the dawn, now the even-
ing dawn, who consoles him as he descends beneath the wave. In
some such strains must the old Aryans have spoken of the sun's
career and actions, and sung the praises of the Being who guided
his flying coursers over the plains of Heaven. Later ages rational-
ised the myth into the loves and actions of Apollo and Daphne,
Hercules and Dejanira, and others innumerable. The myth is
broken down to a folk-tale, which appears in a variety of modern
forms, of which the fairy tale of Cinderella is the best example.
Cinderella is the youngest, as usual, of three sisters — the night-
watches ; she is in fact the dawn maiden ; she is pursued by the
young prince, and leaves her glass slipper — her streak of light —
behind her, by means of which she is identified at last. This tale
appears also in the Gaelic popular stories. A king's daughter
has to fly with her fairy treasures — the peculiar thing is that these
maidens have always treasures, and there generally is as much
396 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
dispute about them as about the maidens themselves ; these
treasures appear to be connected with the rain clouds, the cows
and cattle of the sun. The king's daughter takes service in the
new land she arrives in ; goes to a ball, unknown to her employ-
ers, in her fairy dress ; creates a sensation, so to speak ; but
having to leave in haste, she loses her glass slipper, whereby the
enamoured prince is enabled to find her. The tale of the
" Hoodie Crow," with which our discussion commenced, would
appear to be a broken down myth of the solar class ; and it is
accordingly connected with the nocturnal life of the sun-god, who
then is under the spell of the dark powers. The dawn maiden
pursues him through toils and difficulties, and at last frees him
from the spells.
Another fruitful source of myth and worship is the change
of summer into winter, when the earth has to pass from the
genial rule of the " fire " powers to that of the " frost " king. The
earth is spell-bound during winter, by the machination s of the
frost-king ; the lovely goddess of summer has been carried away,
leaving her mother Earth disconsolate ; " Proserpina gathering
flowers, herself a fairer flower, by gloomy Dis is gathered." She
becomes the wife of Pluto, god of the lower world, but is allowed
to return to her mother for half of the year. Connected with this
myth is the widespread tale of the imprisoned maiden. There are
always three characters in the myth ; the monster or giant, who
performs the abduction ; the maiden who is rich in treasures as
well as beautiful ; and the youthful hero, the young Apollo, who
is destined to overcome the monster and his spells.
Some minor points may briefly be noticed. Among the
many names of the sun in the Veda, he is called the "golden-
handed," a very natural simile for the golden rays shooting finger-
like from him. The Hindus accordingly rationalise this, and tell
how Savitri cut off his hand in a strait, and that the priests made
a golden hand for him. The Norse god Tys (Zeus) had also his
hand bitten off by the Fenris-wolf, and the Irish king of the De
Dannans, Nuada of the Silver Hand, lost his hand in fight with
the Firbolg giant, and the physician Diancet made him a silver
one. Another wide-spread myth is to be referred to the same
source ; the sun-god Apollo is the best of archers— the " Far-
darter," of Homeric poetry. In nearly every Aryan nation there
THE CELTIC LYRE. 397
is a historical legend telling the doughty deed of some great
archer; such is the story of Tell, in Switzerland, which is typical
of the rest. The legend appears in the German tale of Eigel,
brother of Wayland, the smith-god ; while in Braemar it is circum-
stantially told regarding the ancestor of the Machardies, also a
" smith" family. Of myths arising from the wind, storm, thunder,
earth, and sea, it is unnecessary to speak as yet; they will appear
in their proper place among the folk-tales, and some — as the sea-
deities, Lir and his children — among the myths of the heroes.
(To be continued.)
THE CELTIC LYRE: A COLLECTION OF GAELIC SONGS, WITH
ENGLISH TRANSLA TIONS. By FIONN. Edinburgh : Maclachlan and
Stewart, 1883.
WHILE we have to express regret at the delay in noticing the Lyre, we have the satis-
faction of being able to say that in the interval a second edition has been called for —
a testimony to the acceptance with which it has been received, and one which we
trust the compiler will be able to regard as sufficient encouragement to proceed with
the second part, which he evidently has in contemplation. The Celtic Lyre is a
collection of some twenty of our most popular Gaelic songs, with English translations,
and music in both notations. Of course, in such a small collection it could not be ex-
pected that everybody's favourites should be able to find a place, but when we say
that the " twenty" comprise such popular lyrics as " Muile nam Mor-bheann," "Mo run
geal, dileas," "Fear a' Bhata," and " Moladh na Lanndaidh," that the sets of the airs
are smooth and melodious, and that, for the benefit of those who do not know the
Gaelic language, very creditable English translations and equivalents are supplied, it
will be evident to our readers that such features alone could not fail to make the work
highly popular. We do not quite agree with " Fionn" when he says that, in conse-
quence of the native simplicity of our Gaelic lyrics, they need not the adjunct of ela-
borate accompaniments, and that "a simple pedal bass, which any player can supply,"
is their most effective adornment. We do not think so ; but, on the other hand, we
would much rather have them in their naked, native beauty, as he has here pre-
sented them, than overloaded, and with their character completely changed and
marred, as we have seen them after passing through the hands of some recent editors
and "improvers." We would again express the hope that we have here only one
instalment of many yet to come from the budget of Celtic music which we know
" Fionn" to possess, and if the appreciation and encouragement extended to the first
part now before us be at all commensurate with its merits, we predict for the compiler
very great success; and we promise much satisfaction and real pleasure to those who
avail themselves of his labours. We presume it is no secret that " Fionn" is Mr
Henry Whyte, Glasgow.
398 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
THE LONG ISLAND.-
STATISTICAL, DESCRIPTIVE, AND HISTORICAL.
THE Long Island is the designation by which the chain of
islands stretching from Barra Head in the South to the Butt of
Lewis in the North is generally known. A glance at the map
shows that this so-called island is not an island but a myriad of
islands ; and in their social aspect they all differ more or less
from each other. The northernmost of these islands, Lewis, is
in the County of Ross, and belongs to the representatives of the
late Sir James Matheson. It is a small principality in itself, and
is governed by two rulers — the Sheriff as representing the Crown,
and the Chamberlain as representing the proprietor. Of the two
the representative of the proprietor has the greater power, and is
said to be the more feared in the island. A few facts about the
southern sherirfdom, which comprises Harris, the Uists, and
Barra, in which the Royal Commission has recently brought
before the public the condition of the people, may prove inter-
esting to the reader.
The southern island, Barra, was anciently the possession of
the Macneills, who ruled with more than regal sway over the
people. Many people assert, and others won't believe, that much
of the present condition of the Western Isles is due to early
and improvident marriages. Be that as it may, in the days of the
Macneills, marriage arrangements were in the hands of the chief.
Martin, who wrote one of the earliest (1703) and quaintest de-
scriptions of the Western Isles, states that the inhabitants made
application to Macneill "for wives and husbands. He names the
persons, and gives them a bottle of strong waters for the marriage
feast. Their usual address to him is that they want a wife or a
husband to manage their affairs and beget him followers, and he
makes up the match without any long courtship, for he takes
what care he can that their circumstances may suit one another."
Dr Macculloch, in his picturesque way, confirms this. "The
Fathers say that the intention of marriage is to propagate the
Church. But the Macneills maintain that it was to propagate
the Clan. When a tenant's wife died he applied to the chief for a
THE LONG ISLAND. 399
new one, on the ground that he had become useless, and that
the deficiency was a public loss. Macneill then sent him a wife,
and they were married over a bottle of whisky !" — (Vide Western
Isles, vol. iii., page 20.)
In March 1830, the Macneills ceased to be proprietors of
Barra, when the island was sold for £42,050 to James Menzies,
who, in 1840, re-sold it to Colonel Gordon of Cluny, Aberdeen-
shire, in whose family it still remains. The island presents a
rather barren appearance. It is destitute of wood, and it is re-
corded that the morning and evening prayer of a certain pious
Barraman used to be — "If ships must at all events perish, do thou,
O Lord, guide their timber, with their tackling and rigging, to the
strand of Borve and the Sound of Vatersay"* — these two places
being most convenient for the boats and horses of this " pious "
man. The island is described in the time of Dean Munro as
" fertile and fruitful in cornes," but later accounts do not realise
this description. The Dean adds, however, "there is na fairer
and more profitable sands for cokills in all the world."
The valuation of the island in 1644 was about £1000 Scots,
while in the present year the amount is £2217. iis. 2d. sterling,
of which sum £2025. iis. 2d. is the portion appertaining to the
Gordon estates. With the exception of Dr Macgillivray, Eoli-
gary, who pays £550; Mr Maclellan, Vatersay, who pays £430;
and two tenants who pay £70 each, the whole of the land is
under crofters. The population, in 1881, was 2161.
To the north of Barra is the Island of South Uist, formerly the
property of the Macdonalds of Clan Ranald. In 1840 it became
the property of the late Colonel Gordon, in whose family it still
remains. This island shares with Barra in general barrenness
of appearance, and is remarkable for the manner in which it
is intersected by the sea. The northern portion of the parish —
Benbecula — is simply a network of land and sea. " In this
strange island," says Dr Macculloch, " the elements of land and
water seem as if they were yet waiting to be separated ; that
which should have been terra firma being half water, and what
should have been sea being half land ;" and again — " that which
is not rock is sand, that which is not sand is bog, that which is
* " Mas fheudar gu'n teid luingeas a dhlth, O Thighearna, stiuir Thusaam fiodh 's
an cainb gu Traigh Bhorbh a's Caolas Bhatarsaidh !"
400 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
not bog is lake, and that which is not lake is sea. There is no
green glen here where the inhabitants are associated by mutual
wants and pleasures, no 'rude mountain's or torrent's roar' to pro-
duce those attachments, of which poets have sung, and of which
philosophers have speculated." As in Barra, the population,
which now numbers 6078, is almost entirely Roman Catholic.
The island has for long been the victim of absenteeism. Old
Clanranald, who drew an annual income of about £10,000 from
kelp alone, was an absentee, and so were his successors. The
valuation in 1644 was £4000 Scots; while now it is £6680. 35. 4d.
sterling, all of which, with the exception of £95, is apportioned to
the Gordon estates. Nunton, paying £400; Gerinish, £127. ios.;
Dri more, £122; Drimsdale, £291; Ormiclate (Mr Ranald Mac-
donald's), £421. 2s. 6d.; Bornish, £155; Milton, £582; Kilbride,
.£190; Lochboisdale, £130, are in the hands of tacksmen. All
the remainder, except some lands in the occupancy of the pro-
prietrix, is tenanted by crofters.
The total raw produce of the parish in 1837 was estimated
at £27,548. 6s. The only manufacture was kelp, but in conse-
quence of the abolition of the tax on barilla this manufacture
practically came to an end, with the result that Clanranald's in-
come from this parish alone fell from £15,000 to £5000 a-year.
It may be observed, in conclusion, that the price paid by Colonel
Gordon for his Hebridean estates was £173,729; and that the
present annual value is £8610. 145. 6d.
Proceeding to North Uist, the traveller still finds himself in a
country destitute of wood ; and, generally speaking, the outward
aspect is pretty much of the same character as that already de-
scribed. Here, however, the sentiments of the people are widely
different. In South Uist and Barra the people are all Catholics.
In North Uist and on to the Butt of Lews they are severely
Protestant, and their manners and customs vary accordingly.
Even their amusements appear to be more or less influenced by
their religion. Sheriff Nicolson has frequently questioned the
crofter-delegates as to the teaching of the ministers with regard
to the bagpipe, and one crofter on Dr Martin's estate associated
the bagpipe with the Papacy, and spoke with contempt of all
music, vocal and instrumental. The general character of the evi-
dence which has been elicited on this point was not of a very en-
THE LONG ISLAND. 401
couraging character, and it is much to be feared that the same
influences which have silenced the organ in the churches have
also (and many will say with far less reason) silenced the war-pipe
of Maccrimmon among the Hebrideans. In this light contrast
these two statements : — " Dancing, with music of the bagpipes, is
a favourite pastime." — (New Statistical Account for Barra, page
209). " The taste for song is, among the lower orders, fast on the
decline, so also is that for music, of which they were remarkably
fond. At funeral processions the pipes, in strains of pathos and
melody, followed the bier, playing slow, plaintive dirges, composed
for and used only on such occasions. . . . The custom of
accompanying burials with music is now (1837) almost universally
abandoned, and there are some individuals — doubtless with good
intentions — whose zeal has not been wanting to put down the
practice." — (New Statistical Account for North Uist, page 172.)
North Uist until about thirty years ago belonged to Lord
Macdonald ; but with the decline of kelp his Lordship's resources
were reduced, and his affairs became involved, thus necessitating
the sale of this part of his property. According to a valuation of
1691 North Uist was put down at £1880 Scots; but now it
amounts to £5469. i6s. lod. sterling, of which sum £5 156. 6s.
icd. is apportioned to Sir John Orde, the principal proprietor of
the island. The gross raw produce of the parish in 1840 was
put down at £10,440. The present population (1881) was 4264.
The remaining parish of this part of Inverness-shire is Harris,
anciently the property of the Macleods. It passed from Macleod
of Macleod to a son of Sir Norman Macleod of Bernera for
£15,000. In 1831 it was purchased by the grandfather of the
present Earl of Dunmore for £60,000. In 1 87 1 a portion of it was
sold to Sir Edward Scott for £155,000. In its general aspect it
resembles the Island of Lewis. In 1644 it was valued at £2866
135. 4d. Scots; about 1780 it was entered at £768 sterling; in
1790 the net amount was £888 ; while now it amounts to £6194
35. id., made up as follows :— The Dowager Countess of Dun-
more as Trustee, £2999. los. 2d.; Sir Edward Scott of Ardvourlie,
Bart, £2341. i6s. lid; John Stewart of Ensay, £300; Macleod
of Macleod, as proprietor of St Kilda, which is in the parish,
£62 ; School Board, £118. ios., and other proprieters— churches,
etc., £372. 6s.
402 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
When kelp. was in great demand, the rental of Harris
amounted to about £7000, but with the decline of kelp it fell
some 50 per cent. The raw produce of the parish in 1840 was
estimated at £1 1,900.
Forty years ago there were numerous cases of forced evictions
carried on in these islands, with incredible barbarity. One wit-
ness— John Mackay, Kilphedar, aged 75, who was examined be-
fore the Royal Commission at Lochboisdale on 28th May last-
gave details of some of these, and it may be interesting to state
that some of the identical cases, given from memory by that
Delegate, are chronicled in Macleod's Gloomy Memories (vide
American edition, page 138, or Mackenzie's Highland Clearances •,
page 25 5 J There we read: —
The poor people were commanded to attend a public meeting at Lochboisdale,
where the transports lay, and according to the intimations, any one absenting himself
from the meeting was to be fined in two pounds. At this meeting some of the natives
were seized, and in spite of their entreaties were sent on board the transports. One stout
Highlander, named Angus Johnstone, resisted with such pith that they had to hand-
cuff him before he could be mastered ; but in consequence of the priest's interference
his manacles were taken off and marched between four officers on board the emigrant
vessel. One morning during the transporting season, we were suddenly awakened by
the screams of a young female who had been re-captured in an adjoining house,
having escaped after her first apprehension. We all rushed to the door and saw the
broken-hearted creature with dishevelled hair and swollen face, dragged away by two
constables and a ground-officer. Were you to see the racing and chasing of police-
men, constables, and ground-officers, pursuing the outlawed natives, you would think,
only for their colour, that they had been by some miracle transported to the banks of
the Gambia on the slave coast of Africa.
Colonel Gordon proposed to form Barra into a penal settlement,
but the Home Office did not accede to the proposal.
The crofters in these islands, as elsewhere, occupy the poorer
lands, and the tacksmen the best. The agriculture is backward,
for the crofters are all tenants at will, and fully charged with all
the despondency of that class. Professor Blackie has described
the whole country in the Celtic Magazine, thus :—
" O God-forsaken, God-detested land,
Of bogs, and blasts, and moors, and mists, and rain,
Where men with ducks divide the doubtful strand,
And shirts, when washed, are straightway soiled again !"
I
CUSTOMS AND MODE OF LIFE.
In this connection the reader may feel interested in a descrip-
THE LONG ISLAND. 403
tion of the general mode of life of these Outer Hebrideans,
particularly as to how the different communities manage their
affairs on a system essentially different from anything now
existing on the mainland, even in the West Highlands. A most
interesting article on this subject appears in vol. iii. Skene's Celtic
Scotland^. 378-393), contributed by Mr A. A. Carmichael, for
a long series of years an Inland Revenue Officer in these islands,
where, speaking the Gaelic language with great fluency, and
being constantly moving about among the people, he acquired
an intimate acquaintance with their thoughts and general mode
of life. The following is a summary of this valuable paper : —
The crofter lands are worked in three ways — (i) as crofts
wholly; (2) as crofts and run-rig combined; and (3) as run-rig
wholly. In Lewis and Harris the croft system prevails ; in
Barra and Uist the arable land is partly divided into crofts and
partly worked run-rig; while in certain townlands — in particular,
Hosta, Caolas Paipil, and the Island of Heisgeir, in North Uist
— the arable land is entirely worked on the run-rig system. While
the arable land is worked as above, the grazings throughout are
held in common. The run-rig system, which gives the people
share and share alike, is believed to have high advantages in its
favour in a country such as Uist. The soil is exceedingly variable
— moss here and sand there — while the climate is ever changing.
Where the soil is dry and sandy, the crop is light in a dry sum-
mer. On the other hand, if the summer is moist, such a soil will
yield a good crop. With the heavy mossy lands the reverse is
the case; and thus in order that all may participate in the benefits,
as well as the disadvantages, the run-rig system is held to be pre-
ferable. " Obviously the man who is restricted to his croft has
fewer advantages than the man who, together with his croft, has
his share of the Machair or plain, and still fewer advantages than
the man who has, rig for rig with his neighbour, the run of the
various soils of the townland, which gives name to the system.
Consequently, a wet or dry season affects the tenant of the croft
system more than the tenant of the combined system, and the
tenant of the combined system more than the tenant of the run-
rig system."
In the townlands of Hosta, and Caolas Paipil, and the
Island of Heisgeir, already alluded to, there are altogether 22
404 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
tenants. They work their run-rig system in this way :— When
the harvest is over, and the fruits of the year have been gathered
in, the constable or convener calls a meeting of the tenants of his
townland. At this meeting it is decided what portion of the
land is to be put under green crop next year, and thereafter they
divide it into shares according to the number of tenants in the
place, and the number of shares in the soil they respectively
possess. Thereupon they cast lots, and the share which falls to
a tenant he retains for three years. Should a man get a bad
share he is allowed to choose a share in the next division. The
shares are uniform in size — the measurement being throughout
most accurate. A turf is dug up and turned over along the line
of demarcation — and even this turf is afterwards divided into
two — the tenant on either side getting the half next himself.
There are no fences round these arable lands, and to save
the crop a protecting rig is left round the margin of the field.
This rig also is divided transversely into shares in order to sub-
ject all the tenants to equal risk. Occasionally, and for limited
bits of ground, the people till, sow, and reap in common, and
divide the produce into shares. Where the ground admits of it,
a good deal of land is reclaimed at these places.
The sheep, cattle, and horses of the townland graze together,
and the number of animals which each tenant is allowed to keep
is regulated by his share in the soil ; but he may keep a larger
number of one species provided he has a correspondingly less
number of another. All winter and spring the cattle roam over
all the grounds, but whenever the braird appears they are re-
moved to the grazing ground behind the arable land, which is
called " Fearann-cul-cinn." The stock is regulated by souming,
and each tenant is allowed to have so many soums, according to
the size of his holding. A soum consists of a cow and her pro-
geny, the progeny in some districts including a calf, while in
others it includes her three immediate descendants, namely, the
calf, stirk, and quey ; and in some other districts a soum is even
more. The grazing equivalent of a cow is eight calves or four stirks,
or two queys, or eight sheep, or twelve hogs. A horse is equivalent
to two cows, and two sheep equivalent to three hogs. A cow is
always entitled to her calf. If a tenant has not a full souming, he
can arrange for completing it, and similarly if he has an over-
THE LONG ISLAND. 405
stock, he must provide for them independently by buying graz-
ing from a neighbour, or otherwise. Failing that, the community
may allow an over-stock to remain on the grass until it can be
disposed of, in which case he has to pay to the community, and
the money is applied to the common purpose of the township,
such as buying bulls, tups, etc. The souming is regularly
amended at Lammas, and again at Hallowtide. In Lewis and
Harris the crofters keep stock according to each pound of rent
they pay.
As already indicated there are no fences, and in summer and
autumn the stock are placed at night in enclosures to prevent them
from straying on to the growing corn. Lest any of them should
break out two men watch the enclosure all night. Should the
watchers become remiss towards the dawn, when the herds begin
to move, some of the animals may break through the enclosure
and cause loss. If so, the two watchers are held liable, and are
required to make reparation. The damage is appraised by the
constable, who is sworn to do justice, and in this capacity is
termed "Foirfeideach," the just one, or "Measaiche," the valuator.
The constable's valuation is held final, unless he should be inter-
ested, when the eldest tenant takes his place. The crofters have
a code of regulations for which, if broken, reparation is made.
Should a crofter's horse break loose or his fowls stray, and so
destroy his neighbour's corn, the injury is valued and the amount
paid into the common fund. All fines are used for the common
good. The crofter paying the fine does not lose all interest therein,
nor does the crofter to whom reparation is made derive the
exclusive benefit therefrom. Having finished their tillage, the
people go early in the month of June to the hill grazing with
their flocks. The removing day is always a busy one in the
township. The different families bring their herds together,
and drive them away. The sheep lead, then the young cattle,
next the older cattle, while the horses follow. The men carry
burdens of sticks, heather, ropes, spades, and other things needed
to repair their summer huts, while the women carry bedding,
meal, and dairy and cooking utensils. Round the women's
waists is a cord, underneath which their skirts are drawn up to
enable them to walk easily over the moors. Barefooted, bare-
headed, comely boys and girls, with gaunt, sagacious dogs, flit
2C
406 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
hither and thither, keeping the herds together as best they can,
and every now and then having a neck and neck race with
some perverse animal trying to run away home. There is much
noise. Men — several at a time — give directions and scold.
Women knit their stockings, sing their songs, talk and walk as
free and erect as if there were no burdens on their backs nor on
their hearts, nor sin and sorrow in this world of ours, as far as they
are concerned. Above this din rise the voices of the various animals
being thus unwillingly driven from their homes. Sheep bleat
for their lambs, lambs for their mothers ; cows low for their calves,
and calves for their dams; mares neigh for their foals, and foals re-
ply as they lightly trip round about, little thinking of coming work
and hard fare. All who meet on the way bless the Triall> as this
removing is called. They wish it good luck and prosperity, and
a good flitting day, and having invoked the care of Israel's
Shepherd on man and beast, they pass on. On arriving at the
shealing, and getting their herds in order, the " removing feast "
is held ; but this feast is of a very simple character. At the
feast they wish themselves all manner of luck and prosperity.
Every head is uncovered, every knee is bent, as they dedi-
cate themselves and their flocks to the care of Israel's Shep-
herd. In Barra, South Uist, and Benbecula, where the Roman
Catholic faith mainly prevails, the people, in their old dedi-
catory hymn, invoke, with the aid of the Trinity, that of
the angel with the cornered shield and flaming sword, St
Michael, the patron saint of their horses ; of St Columba the
holy, the guardian over their cattle ; and of the golden-haired
Virgin, Shepherdess and Mother of the Lamb, without spot or
blemish. In North Uist, Harris, and Lewis, where the people are*
Protestant, the invocation is to Fear-coimheid Israel —
"Behold, He that keeps Israel,
He slumbers not nor sleeps."
As the people sing their dedication, their voices resound from
their shealings, here literally in the wilderness; and as the music
floats on the air, and echoes among the rocks, hills, and glens,
and is wafted over fresh water lakes and sea lochs, the effect is
very striking. In these shealings the summer months are spent,
the people enjoying to the full those rural and pastoral felicities
of which our poets have so sweetly sung. In the autumn they
GENERAL ASSEMBLY AND CROFTERS. 407
return with their produce to their homes to gather in the ripening
harvest ; and thereafter their winter evenings are spent in the
primitive manner so characteristic of those island homes.
June 2, 1883. STRATH-NA-SEALG.
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE FREE CHURCH
AND THE HIGHLAND CROFTERS.
ON Saturday, the 26th of May last, the General Assembly of the
Free Church of Scotland took up a position respecting the Land
Laws and the social condition of the Highland people, which,
though taken somewhat tardily, ought to secure for that Church
the gratitude of the Highland race whatever section of the
Christian Church they belong to. Overtures were sent up to the
Assembly for consideration from the Synod of Moray, the Pres-
bytery of Dunoon, and the Synod of Lothian and Tweeddale,
suggesting that a petition should be sent to Parliament on the
subject undergoing investigation by the Royal Commission of
Inquiry into the position and grievances of the Highland
Crofters. The Rev. J. C. Macphail, Edinburgh, a warm friend of
the Highland peasantry, moved as follows : —
Considering that the great importance of a righteous settlement of the questions
in connection with which the Royal Commission is at present taking evidence in the
Highlands and Islands is fitted to promote both the social and spiritual welfare of the
people, and considering also the extreme desirableness of full and impartial evidence
regarding the actual condition of the people in order to such a settlement, the General
Assembly recommend to all the ministers and members of the Free Church in the
districts still to be visited by the Commission that they do what they can towards
securing that thoroughly reliable evidence be laid before it ; and further instruct the
Committee on the Highlands to watch over the present inquiry so far as it may affect
the social and spiritual interests of the population.
This resolution, after full discussion, was unanimously agreed to ;
a fact of such importance at present that we make no apology
for re-producing and preserving the remarks of the leading
speakers in the pages of the Celtic Magazine. Mr Macphail in-
troduced his motion as follows : —
The subject, he said, was a very delicate one, and capable of being understood.
Many shrunk from seeing the subject introduced into the Assembly lest the Church
should appear to be mixing herself up unduly with secular matters. There was
4o8 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
undoubtedly some danger of a Christian Church becoming unduly mixed up with
secular matters, and it was peculiarly undesirable that the Church should become so
mixed up. But the attempt to separate secular matters from sacred things was, he
suspected, somewhat vain if it was attempted to carry the separation to the extent that
some persons would indicate. The Church's great object, no doubt, was to bring
healing to the souls of men, but men had bodies as well as souls, and the Church
must be ready, when necessary, to show a living interest if the Church would secure a
hearing and a welcome for her message to their souls. The teaching of the Old
Testament as well as the teaching of our Blessed Lord fully authorised, he thought,
the Church to have regard to secular things to the extent that he had indicated. He
was very deeply impressed personally with the conviction that the state of things at
present in the Highlands and Islands was of a somewhat special character. He would
mention one or two circumstances which he thought were unusual, and which would
seem to indicate that there was a duty that the Church owed to the people that were
being agitated by the questions that were at present occupying the minds of many in
the Highlands. There was no part of the country in which the Church had a deeper
interest than the Northern counties, and it was a very remarkable fact that the two
last Justiciary Courts or Circuits held at Inverness were both "Maiden Circuits."
(Hear, hear.) That Circuit was intended to deal with the crime in either six or seven
of the Northern counties, and when the Judges went there in autumn, and again in
the spring, there was not a single case for them to deal with from any of these
counties. (Applause.) Alongside of that they had the very remarkable fact that the
people were in such a state of unrest, or of discontent, or so agitated from one cause
or another that they found a Sheriff of one of the counties — he believed a very humane
and Christian gentleman — urgently pressing the Government to send troops into part
of the country in order to enforce the law. Fortunately, he thought, the Government
resisted the pressure that was brought to bear upon them, and he believed the explan-
ation very much was — though he was not in the secrets of the Government — owing to
the Home Secretary's good opinion of the people. He had been very impressed
by the speech that was delivered recently by the Home Secretary when receiving the
freedom of the City of Glasgow. He took occasion then to refer to the character of
the people inhabiting the Western Highlands and Islands. He said that for the last
sixteen or seventeen years he had been accustomed to spend his holidays regularly in
those regions, and knew every creek between Cape Wrath and the Firth of Clyde, and
he spoke in such terms of the gentleness and the amenableness to law, and the God-
fearing character of the people inhabiting those districts, that he could not but think
that the Home Secretary, from his knowledge of the people, must have felt a
peculiarly strong reluctance to send the military among them, for if they had been
sent he supposed the Home Secretary also knew enough of their nature to make him
doubt very seriously what the consequences might have been. (Applause.) On the fact
of his having resisted that pressure becoming known to the County Commissioners,
they thought it was their duty to appoint, for a county having only 44 policemen, 50
additional men at a cost to the county of over £3000 a-year to enforce the law of the
country against these people from among seven counties of whom they were not able
to find one criminal case to be tried at two consecutive Circuits. (Applause. ) He con-
sidered that was a state of things that the Free Church was entitled to consider. The
agitation among the people was certainly so hurtful to their spiritual interests, and the
cause of it might be so injurious to their social interests, that the Church must have some
feeling m regard to the matter. He might say, further, as showing them the state of
GENERAL ASSEMBLY AND CROFTERS. 409
things in the country, that some of the people there, as was well known, were charged
with the violations of an interdict. They offered themselves to be tried upon that charge,
they were found guilty, and were imprisoned, as was well known. He visited those
men in prison — (Applause) — and he found that they were not ashamed of their
position, although they regretted it, because they believed firmly — they might have
been wrong, but he was stating what they believed — that they were suffering in the
interests of righteousness and for the good of their country. (Applause.) When their
term of imprisonment expired they were received, both in Edinburgh and in their own
countiy, in a way that showed that their friends were proud of them rather than
ashamed. (Hear, hear.) Such a state of things the Assembly was surely called upon
to notice as seriously concerning the social and spiritual interests of a large section of
the population that looked to the Free Church as their spiritual guides. The people
of those regions expected the Church to have some regard to the present state of
things among them. (Applause.) In one of the visits which he paid to these men in
prison he happened to be accompanied by a minister from the north country, and in
speaking to the men about their position they said to him that they thought the mini-
sters ought in some respects to be the leaders of the people more than they were. The
minister replied, "It is our duty to teach you to exercise Christian patience in the
midst of trials and difficulties." Well, he should not forget the answer of one of the
men. It was, " We look upon you ministers as preachers of righteousness in God's
name to men, and we consider that when you see wrong or see oppression you should lift
up your voice against it in God's name, whoever may be the authors of it — (Applause)
— and we think that, while you have been telling us that we ought to be patient and
submissive, you have not lifted up your voice in regard to some of the things that we
are suffering from as much as we consider you ought to do." Then they had not only
their own people looking to them to take an interest in those matters, and to guide
them in connection with them, but he supposed they would have learned very lately
by the public prints that those who were not their people held the Free Church very
largely responsible for the state of things existing in the Highlands. (Applause.)
Some time ago, when these troubles began, he believed that part of the metropolitan
press told the public, "Here is the result of forty years' teaching by the Free
Church." They found still more recently the public -the Royal Commissioners —
informed that, as regards Skye, the Free Church was the curse of it, and that
they were the Fenians of the country. But then he had been greatly interested
to find that when the names of the leaders of the agitation were mentioned,
not one of those leaders, so far as he was aware, was in any way connected with
the Free Church, but all of them connected with other Churches, for which they were
in no way responsible. (Loud applause.) A righteous settlement in some way or
other of the questions that were at present agitating the country would tend greatly to
promote the social and the spiritual interests of the people, and on that account the
matter concerned them as a Church. (Hear, hear.) He was very anxious to em-
phasise this that personally he was not prepared to pronounce an opinion as yet upon
the state of things in the Highlands generally, and he was not prepared to indicate
any remedies for the evils that were said to exist, whether they existed or not. What
he had desired personally, and what he thought the Church should desire, and what
he thought the public should desire, was that they should get full and impartial evi-
dence of the real state of the country, the real condition of the people there, in order
that they might be in circumstances to form a deliberate and wise judgment upon the
existing state of things and as to the way of remedying the evils, if it was found evils
4io THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
existed. The object of his motion was to indicate the desirableness of such evidence.
He wanted that to be particularly emphasised, and he considered that it was of the
greatest consequence for the country that they should have the evidence not on one
side, but on every side. He himself rejoiced to have the evidence of lairds, factors,
bankers, and gentlemen farmers just as much as the evidence of crofters. He wanted to
have the evidence all round, in order that they might know what the actual condition
of the country was, and then they would be in circumstances to judge how the evils
were to be remedied, if evils existed ; or in circumstances to tell the people that the
evils they complained of were imaginary, and that they must just bear with things as
they were. It was of as much importance to them to have the evidence of Mr Cameron
as to have the evidence of John Macpherson ; and it was also of great consequence to
have the evidence of such a proprietor as Mr Macdonald of Skaebost. The Chairman of
the Royal Commission was well acquainted with India ; Mr Macdonald, who was said
to be very much of a model proprietor, had also had experience of India, and when
asked by Lord Napier if the ryot in India or the ryot in Skye had the greater share of
the benefits and comforts of life, Mr Macdonald answered, " There is not much differ-
ence, but if there is any it is in favour of the ryot of India, for he has the greater
security of tenure." (Applause.) Why did he request the Assembly to make the
recommendation in the motion ? He believed he was right in stating that the Com-
missioners were not authorised to site witnesses, and that they were authorised only to
receive the evidence of those who were in circumstances to give information. Now,
ministers very naturally, and he thought rightly, shrank from coming forward in con-
nection with such matters at all. He thought that this feeling of theirs was highly
commendable in ordinary circumstances, but he considered that the present case was
very exceptional, because he believed that a great deal of the settlement of the entire
questions affecting land in this country might depend upon the evidence laid before
that Commission. He did not think that the results of that evidence would be con-
fined to the Highlands alone. It might extend very much further, and therefore the
case was very exceptional and very much of a crisis in the history of the country. He
thought ministers incurred a serious responsibility if, from feelings of personal delicacy
they in such circumstances refrain from doing what they could to help the righteous
settlement of the questions by which the people were so much agitated, for he said
that their spiritual interests were seriously damaged by these agitations while they con-
tinued. Now ministers in the Highlands, formerly at least, used to be men of con-
siderable understanding, and surely as educated men, they were in circumstances more
than almost any others to know what the condition of the people was, and they were
in circumstances, perhaps, beyond most to form a calm and righteous judgment as to
what the best remedies might be, if they considered evils to exist. The testimony of
such witnesses would be very valuable if they saw themselves at liberty, when called
upon, to give it ; but they naturally shrank from it, and he thought the Assembly
might, with propriety, make the recommendation mentioned. For his own part he
did not care whether they instructed or authorised the Committee on the Highlands tc
watch over the present inquiry, but he thought from the position of that Committee
that the matter ought to have their special interest, and he thought also, if occasion
should arise for taking any action in connection with it before next Assembly, they
should have authority for taking such action. (Loud applause. )
Dr Begg seconded the motion, and said that he did so with very great satisfac-
tion. He had always held that Christian ministers were fully entitled, and in fact
bound, to promote the social interests of the people as certainly, though not so pro-
GENERAL ASSEMBLY AND CROFTERS. 411
minently, as their spiritual interests, and he believed that that was a universal view of
the older ministers of Scotland, beginning with Knox, with Henderson, with Carstairs,
and later with Chalmers and with Dr Mackgill. Those two men under whom he studied
were as distinguished by their philanthropic efforts for the people of Scotland as in
any other respect, and he held that the statement in Scripture that they were to do
good to all men as they had an opportunity was not limited, as it had been in recent
years, to spiritual good, but referred to good of every kind, following the example
of Him who went about continually doing good, but who did not confine his good to
the spiritual interests of the people, but took part also in the most prominent degree
in promoting their temporal interests. Why, what said their Shorter Catechism ? It
said " What was required in the eighth commandment?" and the answer was that it
required the lawful procuring and furthering the wealth and outward estate of our-
selves and others. (Applause.) That was the interpretation of the Divine law
taught to all the youth of our land, and surely they should be prompt in exemplifying
it. He remembered an incident that occurred in his own case — for he at one time
devoted a good deal of attention to questions of this kind. He remembered an old
man saying to him — "You're quite richt, sir; the Apostle Paul was no sailor,- but he
gave the sailors an advice that they did not take, and then he said, ' Sirs, ye should
have hearkened unto me, and not have come by this, harm and loss.'" (Laughter.)
Taking that view, he exceedingly rejoiced at the Commission which was now sitting.
He thought it was of vast importance that it should sit. He was delighted that it met
in public — which was a new thing in Scotland — by which the public were greatly
educated on the question at stake ; and he was certain that as the Free Church — since
imputations had been made against them in connection with the Highlands — they were
specially bound not only to repel these imputations, but to do what they could to secure
an exhibition and performance of justice in the Highlands. He thought they had now
great reason to be thankful for the composition of that Commission. No doubt one sup-
posed at first that there being no direct representative of the crofter class it might have
turned out an unsatisfactory Commission ; but he thought it had turned out an ex-
tremely satisfactory Commission ; and in particular he thought Lord Napier deserved
their thanks for the way in which he had managed that important matter. (Applause. )
He thought the people of the Highlands had shown that they were at least up with
all other people in shrewdness and sharpness. (Hear, hear.) He was delighted with
their answers, and he thought they had shown they were quite equal to any other class
of the population in stating the truth that concerned themselves. He was not so
scrupulous as Mr Macphail. (Laughter.) He thought they needed a thorough re-
form of the Land Laws of this country — (Applause)— the thorough abolition of entail
and primogeniture and everything that stood in the way of the diffusion of wealth and
the general comfort of the people. That was his own idea, and he hoped the result of
the Commission would be to bring out some views of that kind. No doubt there was an
idea that these people should be sent away to other countries — banished. ( " No, No. ")
That was the idea entertained on the subject most undoubtedly. (Hear, hear.) He
had been in most of the colonies. He admitted that in many of them the people had
advantages which were denied them in their own country ; and if they were willing to
go, let them go by all means, and let us help them to go. But on the other hand, the
idea of driving them away without their own consent seemed to him opposed to reason
and sound judgment. They no doubt had great trials and difficulties. Some one had
spoken of experience of India. From the few days he was in India he quite concurred
in that. But he was in other places at other times. He saw the Indians in the back-
412 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
woods of America, and he saw the slaves in America before they were emancipated ;
and, apart from the right to sell them, he did not know but that the slaves whom he
saw were more comfortable than some of the Highlanders whose case had been
brought before them and before the Commission. The idea of people living on
shellfish, and not being allowed to get the shellfish — (Shame) — of people buying sea-
ware and paying for it, and that being attempted to be stopped. Why, out of Turkey
nothing so utterly inconsistent with reason and propriety could be found. The High-
landers had a very hard case indeed, and he thought their ministers and them, as hav-
ing an important connection with them, ought, according to the motion of Mr Mac-
phail, if they could, to see that justice and righteousness prevailed in connection with
that Commission ; and he had no doubt the Highland Committee would bring all their
intelligence and power, and, now that they had the matter fairly tabled before the
the country, they would not cease till justice was done to such a very interesting and
important class of men. (Applause. )
Rev. Mr Sutherland, Strathbraan, said he felt thoroughly exhilerated by the
powerful speech of Dr Begg. He was delighted Dr Begg had the courage to tell the
world what the real feeling of their hearts was on this great question. (Applause.)
There were certain good people at the present day who said that when ministers came
to deal with business or political things they were a lot of old wives — (Laughter) — and
therefore he was glad Dr Begg had spoken as he did. As to the Highlanders, he
held that the moment they were made comfortable, that was the moment they would
be more ready to emigrate. But he thought, as Dr Begg said, that they should not
be sent away. What could be done without them? (Hear, hear.) Dr Begg would
not have been the Dr Begg that he was without them — (Laughter)— and long
might he live to lead them whether or not they were able to follow him to the field.
(Applause.) The Commission was bringing out clearly matters which were very like
things that were going on by the Bosphorus. Men in the South looked on the High-
landers as getting charity. But if the Highlander had had his own he would not have
needed charity ; it was because he was robbed of his right that he required it. He was
struck by a statement recently that bankrupt farmers in Midlothian had had deficiencies
to the extent of ^30,000. He should like to know how far that sum would have gone
in the West Highlands. The Highlander was an honest man, and took his charity ;
but others took the money whether they got it honestly or not. (Laughter.) He would
suggest an inquiry as to the morals and manners of the lairds in the Highlands ; and
in this connection he said that while Lord Napier was never under the necessity of
calling to order the peasants that stood before him, he had three times to call to
order the Highland aristocracy. He was proud of that, and he was glad it would go
forth to the world. (Applause.) They were twitted with wishing to keep the people
in their present position. If they wanted to clear away the Highlanders, kill them
right off ; at present they were gathered together in places not worthy of a south-
ern sheep farm. If the places had been worth looking at, the people of Glendale
would not have been there that day. (Hear, hear.) The question was one that con-
cerned the nation. If the crofter was to be sent out of this country let it not be by
Dr Martin, though it cost him ^500, nor by any proprietor, but let the nation step in
and say it was to be done. Anyhow, a change must take place in regard to the crofter,
and that change would do good to the Church. The Highlands had hitherto pro-
vided the Church with its best ministers. In Edinburgh, for instance, there were the
Macleods, the Macduffs, the Lees, and the Macgregors,. (Applause.) That stock
had been improved no doubt by its connection with material of a harder kind in the
GENERAL ASSEMBLY AND CROFTERS. 413
south. (Laughter.) Mr Sutherland then referred to " The Highland Clearances, "
by Dean of Guild Mackenzie, Inverness, which, he said, should be read by everybody.
It would do them more good than theological books, which they might pore over,
because it would open their eyes. It would show them the results of the courage of
ministers in the beginning of the present century, which they did not get from
John Knox. (Laughter.) But one minister spoke out. He said — "The Duchess-
Countess is in heaven — if the oppressor of the poor goes to heaven " — (Applause)
— and the Macdonalds, the Macleods, and the Macraes had preached the Gospel
truth in the same spirit as Dr Begg. But for. the bravery with which they
spoke up against the oppressor, and in favour of the poor, Cameron, Glen-
brittle, would not have had reason to find fault with the Free Church as he did.
(Applause.) The Free Church would have been so weak in the Highlands that it
would not have been worth the notice of Glenbrittle. If they were to be worthy suc-
cessors to these great men in the Highlands they would not need to be silent, and
he thought they should go, not only as far as Mr Macphail proposed, but as far as Dr
Begg asked them to go, and perhaps a step further.
Rev. Mr Ross, Rothesay, warmly supported the motion.
Rev. Mr Grant, Tain, said he had told ladies in Dublin that he had seen hun-
dreds of Highlanders more oppressed than the Irish. As to the Highland landlords,
he said that though some of them were oppressive there were Highland proprietors
who were the most humane and considerate men in this world. (Applause. )
Professor Blaikie expressed his concurrence in what had been said, after which
Principal Rainy said he should have regretted if this motion had been passed
without some expression of interest in, and deep feeling about, this matter. For his
own part he must say the condition of things in a large part of the Highlands had for
many years lain like a millstone upon his heart. He had had great heaviness and
continual sorrow in his heart regarding it. How to create for the future a system by
which the ordinary things would open to deserving people — the ordinary rewards and
comforts of human life — was a practical question that had gone on for years unsolved,
and with no progress in solving ; in many cases the tendency had seemed to be in the
other direction. He entirely acquiesced in what had been said as to the line taken
by Mr Macphail's motion. Of course, they could have no sort of sympathy with any
of those who made it their object to lead the people to resistance of the law, or into
collision with the law; that must be far from the purpose of that Committee. But he
considered that they might exert the influence that they ought to exert on the minds
of the people in the direction of what was right in that respect. It was of the very
greatest importance that they should enter sympathetically into everything that was
intended for the purposes of possible and legitimate examination of evils with the
view to see how possibly they might be removed. Government had taken this re-
sponsibility; the work was going on, and it was of great importance that the Assembly
should satisfy their people's minds and express their own in the way of indicating how
earnestly they were looking on and how deep an interest they desired to take, and
thought their people should take, in this matter. There was another interest that
ought to apply to them and guide their statements and attitude in a question
of this kind. They were dealing with a matter on which they might talk, but
which was a matter of experience and actual feeling to their people, and it was
of great importance that they should not, perhaps for the sake of relieving their
own feelings, express themselves in a way that might create false and erroneous
expectations in the minds of their people, or inspire them with views as to what was
4i4 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
attainable that might turn out fanciful and lead their hopes in a wrong direction. All
the more on that account it was desirable that they should endeavour to promote the
throwing of light on the situation ; that they should second the efforts of Government
at all events, and let light shine through the whole matter. He accordingly concurred
with Dr Begg and others who had spoken to the very interesting character of this in-
quiry, and the impartiality and good sense and insight with which it appeared to have
been conducted so far by Lord Napier and his colleagues. (Applause. ) He thought it was
of great importance that a motion like the present should be brought forward, for it
was not unnatural that men in the position in which many of their ministers and mem-
bers were, might, perhaps, fail to feel special responsibility upon them to help this
inquiry. Or it might be that, misled — as Mr Macphail seemed to indicate they
might be— by the feeling that, because they did not want to ask redress from their own
private wrongs, therefore, they might abstain from speaking to matters which it was
important should be spoken of. That might be a good feeling to regulate men's
conduct in religion, but the question now before the Commission was — What was the
real situation, and how did the forces of it work ? and every man — especially every
educated and intelligent man — who, familiar by daily acquantance with the circum-
stances, ought to endeavour to throw impartial light on it, not by trying to make a
case out against factors or lairds, but simply by stating the case as it was. That
might be done all the more for this reason — whatever they might have to say of the
evils of particular classes of persons, really every one must feel that a great deal was
to be traced to the situation which had been created, and in which men found them-
selves. He thought it was very desirable that every one who felt that, in bringing
out facts showing how the matter really worked, things that might involve great hard-
ship and great oppresion, it should be frankly brought out, not as a matter of mere
personal reproach of that or the other person who was mixed up with it, as if they
tried to fix blame on an individual, but in the way of showing to the country what
was the real situation, and raising the question, not about men, but about the system.
He did not think it was a very easy question, but he believed it to be a most pressing
question. For his part, he had always felt there were faults on all sides. But he
wished to say that when they had a system in which the mass of the community were
placed virtually under an irresponsible despotism, the men, whether landlords or
factors, who were in the position to exercise it were in a difficult position, and he did
not wonder they made blunders as human beings. He thought many of them disliked it,
and earnestly tried to do their duty ; but he wished to say for himself, and he believed
it was true of every member of this Assembly, that if he or they were placed in a
position of harassing despotism, though it was the most paternal despotism in the
world— they would find the system would soon reveal evils and mischiefs in spite of
all they could do. (Applause.) He did not regard this as a problem to be solved
off-hand by speakers on a platform ; but it was a question to which the best minds of
the country must be applied— not with the desire of dividing class from class, or
sacrificing the interests of any class — but it should be gone about with a desire to pro-
mote the health, and sweetness, and hopefulness of the life of the nation, including
very much the life of the common people. (Applause. )
CLARSACH-AN-DOIRE; GAELIC POEMS AND SONGS— By the well-
known and sweet Gaelic poet, Neil Macleod— has just been issued, by Messrs Mac-
lachlan & Stewart, Edinburgh, and A. & W. Mackenzie, Publishers, Celtic Magazine
Jffice, Inverness. It is beautifully printed and very neatly bound. Price, 35. 6d.
415
THE HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS.
By the EDITOR.
VII.
ALLAN CAMERON seems to have had his estates first forfeited
about 1596, and ever after he is in constant trouble with his own
neighbours and with the Crown. In the summer of 1605 ne 'ls
summoned, with many others of the Western Chiefs, to appear
personally at Lochkilkerran (now Campbellton) to meet Lord
Scone, Comptroller of the Kingdom, on the 2Oth of July, and to
give security for the regular payment of His Majesty's rents and
duties, and to bring with him and exhibit the title-deeds to all
lands claimed by him. It was intimated that if any of the Chiefs
should fail to obey the proclamation, their title-deeds were at
once to be declared null and void, and power was given to the
Comptroller to pursue them with fire and sword as rebels to the
King. That this might not be considered merely as an empty
threat, the fighting men of the western shires and burghs were
summoned to attend at Lochkilkerran, well armed, and with
forty days provisions, to support the authority of the Comptroller.
Robert Hepburn, Lieutenant of the King's Guard, was sent to
the Isles to receive from their respective owners the Castles of
Dunyveg, in Isla, and Dowart, in Mull ; and in order to prevent
the escape of the islanders, the inhabitants of Kintyre and the
West Isles were ordered, by proclamation, to deliver all their
boats to this officer, being at the same time prohibited from
using boats without his special licence.* Five years later we
find him among six of the principal Highland Chiefs who as-
sembled in Edinburgh on the 28th of June 1610, to hear his
Majesty's pleasure declared to them. Gregory informs us that
Maclean of Dowart, Macdonald of Sleat, Macdonald of Duny-
veg, Macleod of Harris, the Captain of Clanranald, and Mac-
kinnon of Strathordell, were those who then presented themselves
before the Council ; and to them " was joined Cameron of Lochiel,
or (as he is styled in the record) Allan Cameron Maclanduy of
* Gregory's Western Highlands and Islands, pp, 306-7.
4i6 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
Lochaber." The first step taken by the Government was to
compel them to give sureties to a large amount for their re-ap-
pearance before the Council in May 1611. The next was to
compel them to give their solemn promise that they should con-
cur with and assist the King's Lieutenants, Justices, and Com-
missioners, in all matters connected with their several districts ;
that they should all live together afterwards in peace, love, and
amity; and that they should agree to settle any questions of dis-
pute arising between them according to the ordinary course of
law and justice in the land. At the same time and place a
particular feud between the Captain of Clanranald and Lochiel
was arranged, by these chiefs " heartily embracing one another,
and chopping hands together," in the presence of the Council,
and promising to submit their disputes to the decision of the law.*
Shortly after this Allan found himself face to face with a
new and altogether unexpected complication with the Earl of
Argyll, who, examining his charter chest, about the year 1608,
accidentally discovered the title-deeds, which, in the reign of
James V., Colin, third Earl of Argyll, had acquired to the lands
of Lochiel. The successors of the third Earl had hitherto al-
lowed this claim to lie dormant ; it had, in fact, been forgotten.
The seventh Earl of Argyll, eager to extend the influence of his
family, especially at the expense of his rival, the Marquis of
Huntly — to whose party the Camerons were attached — proceeded
to avail himself of his recently discovered claim to the superiority
of the lands of Lochiel. Having, to obviate any difficulties
that might arise, procured from Hector Maclean of Lochbuy, for
a small sum, a surrender of any title which that Chief might
have to the lands, Argyll easily succeeded in obtaining a new
charter from the King in his own favour. f He then instituted
the usual legal process for removing Allan Cameron of Lochiel
and his clan from that part of their possessions, much to the
astonishment of Allan, who never knew that there was any defect
in the title-deeds by which he and his immediate predecessors
held their lands. Hastening to Edinburgh to take advice,
Lochiel there met the Earl of Argyll, who prevailed on him
* Western Highlands and Islands, pp. 339-40.
t Reg. of Privy Seal, Ixxvii., fo. 65.
HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS. 417
to submit the question to the decision of their law-agents. The
result was in favour of the Earl, from whom, by agreement,
Lochiel took a charter of the lands, to be held by him as a vassal
of Argyll. The Marquis of Huntly, then superior of a great
great part of Lochaber, and from whom Lochiel held Mammore
and other lands, was highly offended that Argyll should so easily
have obtained a footing in that district ; and he endeavoured to
prevail on Lochiel to violate his agreement with Argyll. To
this demand Cameron would not consent ; qualifying his refusal,
however, by protestations that, although he now held that portion
of his estates from the Earl of Argyll, yet that his so doing should
not affect his obedience and service to the Marquis of Huntly,
but that he should continue as loyal to that nobleman as he and
his predecessors had always been in the past. This answer was
far from satisfactory to the Marquis, who secretly resolved upon
Lochiel's* ruin; and, as the easiest way to accomplish it, he
sought to renew the dissensions which had, during the minority of
Allan, caused so much bloodshed in the clan. The Camerons of
Erracht, Kin-Lochiel, and Glen Nevis were easily induced to em-
brace an offer from the Marquis to become his immediate vassals
in the lands which Lochiel had hitherto held from Huntly. Ac-
cordingly, the Marquis's eldest son, the Earl of Enzie, proceed-
ing to Lochaber with a body of his vassals, put his adherents
among the Camerons in the possession of the lands of which, by
the mere will of the Marquis, Lochiel was now deprived. On the
departure of Enzie, Lochiel appointed a meeting with his hostile
kinsmen, at which he pretended being perfectly well aware that
they had been compelled, by force, to enter into the plans of
Huntly ; and he, therefore, requested them to restore the lands
to him, when he doubted not he would be able to satisfy
the Marquis. At first, they made a verbal promise to do as
he requested ; but, when he desired them to subscribe a
document to that effect, they declined, and pressed him to
go with them to the Marquis, with whom they engaged to
reconcile him ; after which they were to restore his lands.
" Lochiel," says our authority, " like ane auld subtile fox, per-
ceiving their drift, and being as careful to preserve his head as
they were to twine (separate) him from it," promised to take
the matter into consideration, and parted from his refractory
4i8 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE,
clansmen on apparently good terms. He then made another
journey to Edinburgh to consult his legal advisers as to the best
course for him to pursue for the recovery of his lands. While there,
he received intelligence that his enemies in the clan had appointed
a meeting to consider the best means to take away his life, and
thus secure themselves in their new possessions. Upon this he
hastened to Lochaber, sending private notice to such of the clan
as still adhered to him, to meet him at a certain place, on the day
appointed for the meeting of the opposite faction, and within a
short distance of the spot selected by the enemy. The chief
supporters of Lochiel, on this occasion, seem to have been the
Camerons of Callart, Strone, and Letterfinlay. Placing most of
his followers in ambush, Lochiel approached the rendezvous of
his opponents with six attendants only, and sent to demand .a
conference with a like number of the enemy. His opponents see-
ing Lochiel with so small a force, and thinking he had only just
arrived in the country, and that he had no time to collect his ad-
herents, thought this a favourable opportunity for getting rid of
him, and, accordingly, made towards their chief and his attend-
ants, resolving to kill the whole party. The wary Lochiel re-
treated, so as to lead his pursuers past the wood where his own men
lay in ambush, and then, on a given signal, the foe were attacked
in front and rear, and routed, with the loss of twenty of their prin-
cipal men killed (of whom Alastair Cameron of Glen Nevis was
one), and eight taken prisoners. The rest were allowed to escape ;
and Lochiel then replaced .himself in possession of the disputed
lands, teaching, as our authority quaintly observes, " ane lessone
to the rest of his kin that are alyve, in what forme they shall
carrye themselves to their chief hereafter." * On the news of this
proceeding reaching the Privy Council, Lochiel and his followers
were proclaimed rebels, a price was set upon the heads of the
leaders, and a commission of fire and sword was given to the
Marquis of Huntly and the Gordons for their pursuit and appre-
hension, -f- The clan, or at least that division of it, which had
* Original State Paper in Gen. Reg. House, titled, "James Primrois' Information
anent the His and Hielandis, Sept. 1613." (Primrose was then Clerk to the Privy
Council.) Record of Privy Council, December 1613 ; July 1617. Reg. of Privy
Seal, Ixxxii., fol. 285.
t Record of Privy Council, December 1613; and Denmylne MS., Advocate's
Library, ad tempus.
HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS. 419
followed Lochiel in the recent quarrel, continued for several years
in a state of outlawry. *
The following account of the difficulty with Huntly is thus
given in the family manuscript : — Lochiel having, in order to save
the rest of his estates in Lochaber, employed the Marquis's eldest
son, the Earl of Enzie, in whom he had absolute confidence, to
put in for the gift of them from the King's donator, at such prices
as could be agreed upon. His Lordship accepted the service, and
made the purchases accordingly ; but, as he had only acted in
this affair as Lochiel's trustee, it was never doubted that he would
resign them in favour of Lochiel's son, John, as soon as this should
be demanded.
But the Earl acted upon more interested motives than was
supposed, for he resolved either to keep the estates to himself, or,
if he did restore them, it would be upon such conditions of de-
pendence and servitude, as he knew perfectly well Lochiel would
not consent to ; nor could all the importunities of Allan and his
friends prevail upon Lord Enzie to do him justice. These lands
were then wholly possessed and occupied by Camerons ; and
Lochiel-, knowing that no others dare inhabit them without his
consent, resolved to keep possession of the lands, believing, in
the circumstances, that it would be no easy matter to dispos-
sess him.
Thus were affairs situated when Clanranald was com-
missioned to negotiate for him at Court ; and his Majesty
was so bent upon the extirpation of the Macgregors, that, in order
to engage him in that service, he not only, as already stated,
consented to all his demands, but also compelled Huntly to re-
store the lands which he had recently taken from Lochiel.
Lochiel disliked the service required of him, but he thought it
no crime to defend his own, and the better to enable him to do
so, he secured the assistance of several of his neighbours, par-
ticularly that of Glengarry, to whom he gave one of his daughters
in marriage, giving, as her portion, the lands of Knoidart, reserving
an annuity and the superiority to himself; also the lands of
Laggan and Achadrome, Invergarry, and Balnane, of which last
Glengarry had formerly procured a gift from Sir Alexander Hay.
Huntly was fully aware of the extreme difficulty of securing
* Western Highlands and Isles, pp. 342-346.
420 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
possession of the lands in question by force, and he made no
attempt in that direction. He, however, adopted what he thought
more effectual means, by bribing several of Lochiel's nearest rela-
tions, the sons of the late Tutors, and others of that faction, whom,
by underhand negotiations, he carried over so entirely to his own
interest, that they accepted leases of these lands from him, and
engaged themselves not only to make good their possessions, but
also to renounce any dependence upon Lochiel as their chief;
and so absolutely to become Huntly's creatures as to agree to
fight for him to the last drop of their blood against all comers.
When Lochiel discovered this treasonable plot, which had all
along been arranged with the greatest secrecy, he was naturally
much surprised and concerned as to what was best to be done in
the circumstances. If the plot was allowed to mature, he saw
that his own ruin was complete, for, as his rebellious relatives had
already gained over many members of the clan to their side, he
knew that they would day by day increase in strength and num-
bers, and that his authority and reputation would be lost, and
his family reduced to extremities. The conspirators, besides, to
cover their crimes, added new guilt to their perfidy by patching
up a title, and giving out that the head of their faction was the
true heirs of Ewen MacAllan, and that, consequently, he had a
just claim to the estate and the Chiefship of the clan. " What
kind of logic they made use of to set aside the posterity of the
elder brother I know not," says our authority, " but it is certain
that they had a powerful faction in the clan, which abetted their
interest at first ; but the greatest part of them, being made sensible
of their error, were easily reclaimed, and not only returned to the
obedience of the Chief, but assisted him in destroying their leaders,
who continued obstinate to the last ; for he commanded sixteen
of them to be put to the sword, and by that terrible and
exemplary punishment pulled up a faction by the root, that
began at his very birth and continued till that time. The news
of this slaughter, which must be allowed to have been more
necessary than justifiable, soon reaching the Marquis and his
son, the Earl of Enzie, they resolved not to put up with the
affront, and threatened to have him and his clan treated in the
very same manner with their friends the Macgregors. They
made hideous representation of matters at Court, and, having
HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS. 421
obtained a new sentence of outlawry and proscription against
them, they applied to all the chiefs in the North for their assist-
ance in executing it. However, they were all heard, and even
Mackintosh, who thought, with the rest, that Lochiel had done
nothing wrong, was so generous as to refuse his concurrence,
alleging in excuse that by his treaty with Lochiel he could not
attack him without incurring the penalty, which, as he then pre-
tended, was the loss of the lands in dispute, That gentleman
having by this drawn the Marquis's indignation upon him,
was some time thereafter, by his interest, arrested and confined
to the Castle of Edinburgh upon this pretext, that he had not
found surety for the peaceable behaviour of his clan, as he was
by law obliged. But this friendship between him and Lochiel
did not long subsist, for having marched into Lochaber in 1616
at the head of his clan, in order, as he gave out, to hold courts
as heritable steward of that lordship, Lochiel, upon his approach,
guarded all the fords of Lochiel, and opposed his crossing the
river. This Mackintosh interpreted as a breach of the fore-
mentioned treaty, which expired that year; and applied to the
Lords of the Privy Council, who, by their decree, found that
Lochiel was liable in the mulct or penalty, and not only decreed
and ordained him to remove, but also granted letters of inter-
communing or outlawry against all the inhabitants of the dis-
puted lands. This brought on several invasions from Mackintosh
who gained nothing by them, but forced Lochiel, who was unable
to grapple with so many enemies, to the cruel necessity of giving
ear to some proposals of agreement offered by the Marquis of
Huntly and his son, who now began to prefer their interest to
their resentment. Several persons of the highest quality acted
as mediators between the parties, and bestirred themselves so
effectually that they in the end brought them to submit to the
following articles : —
1st. That there should 'be friendship and amity between them, and that Lochiel
should renounce all his former rights to the several estates in dispute.
2nd. That the Marquis and his son should, in lieu of his claim, give to his son John
a charter of the lands of Mammore, held of themselves and their heirs, for payment of
20 merks Scots yearly of feu-duty, and the service of the men living upon them, as
often as it should be required.
3rd. That the said Marquis and his son and their heirs should not dispossess the
present tenants of the estates that were by this bargain adjudged to them, but continue
2 D
422 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
the said tenants in their several possessions for the same rents that they formerly paid
to Lochiel. And
4th. To prevent future quarrels, it was stipulated that all differences that should
thereafter happen to arise between the parties contracting should be referred to the
decision of Alexander, Earl of Dunfermline, Lord Chancellor; John, Earl of Perth;
Thomas, Lord Binny; and several others named in the indenture, who were the per-
sons that acted as mediators ; and, in default of them, to the sentence and decree of
the Lords of Justiciary.
In terms of this treaty a charter was granted to John, Loch-
iel's son, by George, Earl of Enzie, with consent of his father,
bearing date, 24th of March 1618. By another article it was
agreed that the Marquis and his son should grant separate char-
ters to the Camerons of Letterfinlay, Glen-Nevis, Balanit, and
others of Lochiel's friends and dependent septs, and of the several
lands they had hitherto possessed as his tenants and vassals, and
thus Allan was obliged to give up nearly two-thirds of his estate
lying to the east and south of the Loch and River of Lochy.
" Such was the reward he received for all the blood, trouble, and
lands which he lost " in the service of the Marquis of Huntly, who,
however, now engaged to assist him against his old enemy, Mack-
intosh— an engagement which his Lordship performed to the
utmost of his power, for personally he hated Mackintosh, and
was only too glad to do everything in his power to vex and trouble
him.
Mackintosh finding it impossible to carry out his purpose
against Lochiel, now supported by Huntly, resolved upon the
expedient of misrepresenting and undermining him at Court,
whither he proceeded. He found the King inclined to favour him,
from the part he took in prosecuting the unfortunate Macgregors.
These services he magnified to the utmost, while he described
Lochiel as a person " who contemned the royal authority, and
who scorned to live by any other laws than his own / ..' . a
common robber, destitute of all humanity ; and filled the King's
ears with such horrid notions of his barbarity and cruelty," that
he obtained from his Majesty a letter to the Privy Council, at
the same time conferring upon himself the honour of knight-
hood, "which show," says our author, " how easy it is for design-
ing people to ruin the most innocent at the Courts of Princes,
when there are none to vindicate them." The following is the
letter :-^
HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS. 423
James R Right Trusty and Right Well-beloved Cousins and Councillors,
and Right Trusty Councillors, we greet you well, — Whereas, Allan MacCoilduy, in
contempt of us and our government, standeth out in his rebellion, oppressing his
neighbours, and behaving himself as if there were neither King nor law in that our
kingdom : it is our pleasure that ye ratify what Acts ye have heretofore made against
him; and further that ye expede a commission in due form to Sir Lachlan Mack-
intosh, the Lord Kintail, the Laird of Grant, and such others as the said Sir
Lachlan may nominate, to prosecute the said Allan with fire and sword, till they
apprehend him, or at least make him answerable to our laws; and that ye direct
strict charges to all these of the Clan Chattan, wheresoever inhabiting, to follow the
said Sir Lachlan in that service ; also that ye charge the Marquis of Huntly and the
Lord Gordon, as Sheriffs of Inverness, to be aiding and assisting to our said Com-
missioners ; Moreover, that charges be directed to the friends of the Earl of Argyll,
and all others next adjacent to the said Allan, in noways to assist him, with certifica^
tion that whosoever shall aid, assist, relieve, or intercomune with him, shall be
accounted partakers of his rebellion, and be punished accordingly, with rigour : And
the premises commending to your special care, as ye will do us acceptable service, we
bid you farewell. Given at our Palace of Whitehall, the 6th day of May 1622.
Sir Lachlan obtained his commission, in terms of this letter,
addressed to himself and twenty-two other chiefs and gentlemen
in the Highlands, but it was, for various reasons, never enforced.
Lord Mackenzie of Kintail, with whom, in the meantime, he
settled an old dispute regarding his Lochalsh lands, declined to
accept the commission against Lochiel. The Laird of Grant,
though he was a son-in-law of Mackintosh, even rendered Allan
important services at this time, instead of acting against him in
terms of the commission. Lord Lovat, another of those to whom
it was addressed, was an old and hereditary friend of the family ;
while the Marquis of Huntly and his son, the Earl of Enzie, were,
at the time, on bad terms with Mackintosh. The others named
in the commission were equally unwilling to help Mackintosh on
this occasion, with the result that he was " at last obliged once
more to try his fortune at the head of his own clan." Lochiel
was prepared to receive him, and his men were very keen "to
measure the justice of their cause by the length of their swords;
but he himself being unwilling to oppose the Royal commission,
a treaty was artfully set on foot, and the parties agreed to submit
all their differences to the Earl of Argyll, the Laird of Grant, and
some other arbitrators. Lochiel, by this, designed no more but
to get rid of his present difficulties ; and, though there was a de-
cree pronounced, adjudging the estate to Mackintosh, who, in
lieu thereof, was thereby ordained to pay Lochiel certain sums of
424 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
money, yet he cunningly shifted the ratification, and continued
in possession till his title became legal once more;" and the
matter was left pretty much in this position until the rights of
the family were finally secured by his famous grandson, Sir Ewen
Dubh, of Killiecrankie renown.
The family historian concludes his sketch of 'this chief in the
i following terms : — " In all his troubles, he was vigorously sup-
ported by the Earls of Argyll and Perth, and the Lord Madderty,
who espoused his interest with a zeal that seemed to be inspired
with the truest affection and friendship. The Marquis of Huntly
and the Earl of Enzie, his son, likeways showed him great favour
after the reconcilement I have mentioned, nor were the Lairds of
Glengarry and Clanranald, his sons-in-law, the Lairds of Grant,
and others of his neighbours, less active in promoting his interest.
Many of the letters that passed between him and these noble
persons are still extant* They were collected by his grandson ;
and as they generally relate to the passages I have pointed out,
so the most important transactions of his life may be collected
from them, and some other writs that are still to be found in the
family. By this it appears that the Lord Madderty, brother to
the Earl of Perth, was surety for him in all his transactions in
the Low Country, and that he had the custody of his charters
and such other papers as it was thought could not be safely kept
at home, in these troublesome times. He had the good fortune
to be reconciled with his Majesty before his death. This favour
he owed chiefly to the friendship of the Earls of Argyll and
Perth, who represented matters in such a light, that the King
gave him a full remission for all the illegal and irregular steps of
his life, which are therein recited. It is dated the 28th June,
1624, which was the last year of that King's life. His Majesty
was likewise pleased to write to his Council to receive him and
his clan as his most loyal and dutiful subjects ; and because he
would be obliged, in obedience to the laws, to go in person to
Edinburgh, in order to find surety for his clan, the King further
commands them to issue forth Letters of Protection, discharging
the Lords of Session and Justiciary, and all other judges to sustain
process against him and his said clan for years, for any cause, civil
or criminal, preceding that date. The only person that now gave
* This is supposed to have been about 1733. Where are they now ?
HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS. 425
him trouble was the Laird of Mackintosh ; but he (Lochiel) had
too much cunning and mettle for him." The recital of the adven-
tures that befel him in his frequent journeys to Drummond Castle,
the principal seat of the family of Perth, his address and cunning
in eluding the stratagems made use of by Mackintosh to secure
his person, while he was an outlaw, would be entertaining to the
reader, but unfortunately our authority's "intended brevity" did
not admit of his recording them. Allan outlived the battle of
Inverlochy, fought in 1645, and sent 300 of his name to join
Montrose, though he was himself so old and infirm as to be able
to do nothing more than look on as a mere observer; but he
is alleged by some authorities to have sent the messenger who
induced Montrose to return to Lochaber and fight the battle of
Inverlochy, where he gained such a glorious victory over the Earl
of Argyll, who then had Allan's grandson, Ewen, the young
heir of Lochiel, under his charge.
Allan married a daughter of Stewart of Appin, described as
" a handsome young lady," who " so absolutely gained upon his
affections by an excess of beauty, wit, and good nature, that he
continued fond of her while she lived." By this lady he had
issue —
1. John, who appears repeatedly on record during the life of
his father. He is described as " a gentleman of exquisite judg-
ment, who had a genius happily turned for the management of
civil affairs." He married, in October 1626, Lady Margaret (or,
according to Douglas, Mary), daughter of Robert Campbell of
Glenfalloch, afterwards of Glenorchy, and progenitor of the Earls
of Breadalbane, with issue — (i) Ewen, afterwards the famous Sir
Ewen Dubh, born August 1629, who succeeded Allan as XVI.
chief, and of whom presently ; (2) Allan, who married in August
1666, Jean Macgregor, sister of James Macgregor of Macgregor.
Allan was a gentleman of great courage and excellent parts, but
he died in early life.
2. Donald, progenitor of the Camerons of Glendesseray, and
Tutor to his celebrated nephew, Sir Ewen, in which capacity he
"acquitted himself with singular probity and honour."
3. Jean, who married " Alastair Dearg," eldest son of Donald
Macdonald, VIII. of Glengarry, who died before his father, but
whose son, Eneas, by Jean Cameron, succeeded as IX. of Glen-
426 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
garry, and was subsequently, in 1660, created a Peer of Scotland,
as Lord Macdonald and Arros. *
According to the author of the "Memoirs," others were
married respectively to Clanranald, the Laird of Appin, Maclean
of Ardgour, Macdonald of Keppoch, and "the rest to other
gentlemen of that neighbourhood, whose names did not then
occur " to him. He died, far advanced in years, about 1647, when
(his eldest son having predeceased him), he was succeeded by his
grandson, the famous Sir Ewen Dubh.
(To be continued.)
THE WOODS, FORESTS, AND ESTATES OF PERTHSHIRE.— Mr
Thomas Hunter, editor of the Perthshire Constitutional, has issued a prospectus for a
new work on "The Premier County of Scotland," which, we doubt not, will be as popu-
lar as it is valuable even beyond the borders of Perthshire, The work has been appearing
week by week in the Constitutional^ and it has found so much acceptance, not only with
local readers, but others in all parts of the country, interested in woods and forests,
and estates generally, that the author has been urged to reproduce it in a handier form.
From the specimen pages which we have seen, the volume promises to be a very
handsome one, liberally illustrated with fine engravings of the more notable places
and remarkable trees in Perthshire. The history of the Perthshire woods is largely a
history of Forestry in Scotland, and, in addition to this, there is much valuable infor-
mation about estate management, the history of the county, and sketches of the prin-
cipal families. The work might thus be fairly entitled, ' ' Perthshire Described and
Illustrated." In the prospectus, which every one interested should procure, the
scope of the work is very fully detailed. We understand the price is to be very
moderate.
THE INVERNESS HIGHLAND LAND LAW REFORM ASSOCIATION.
— At a meeting of the Executive of this Association held on Monday evening (28th
May), it was moved by Mr George J. Campbell, solicitor, Treasurer to the Associa-
tion, seconded by Dean of Guild Mackenzie, and unanimously agreed to —
"That the Council learn with great satisfaction the views expressed by the
Venerable the General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland, at its meeting on
Saturday last, with reference to the question now under inquiry by the Crofter Royal
Commission, and respectfully tender their hearty thanks to the Assembly for the
resolution passed thereanent ; the Council at the same time express the hope that
the best results will follow said resolution in the advancement of the interests of the
people of the Highlands, and they instruct the Secretary to communicate it to the
Moderator of the Assembly."
"THE ETHICS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY," by Malcolm Mackenzie,
Guernsey; and "The Highland Dress," byj. G. Mackay, will be continued in our
next.
THE GAELIC SOCIETY ANNUAL ASSEMBLY will be held, as usual, this
year on the evening of Thursday, I2th July, being the first night of the Great Inver-
ness Sheep and Wool Fair. The programme will be eminently Highland and attrac-
tive as in the past,
* Mackenzie's History of the Macdonalds and Lords of the Isles, pp., 303-304.
42;
THE LONDON HIGHLAND LAND LAW REFORM
ASSOCIATION.
CHARACTERISTIC SPEECH BY PROFESSOR BLACKIE.
ON Wednesday, May 30, a meeting of this Association was held in London, at which
Mr D. H. Macfarlane, M.P., President of the Association; Mr Dick Peddie, M.P.;
Professor Blackie, and others, spoke on the subject of the Highland Crofters and the
Royal Commission.
Professor Blackie, who was received with great enthusiasm, moved a resolution
regretting the continued enforcement of unjust laws under which Highland landlords
had been able to depopulate large tracts of country for sporting and other purposes,
and to remove the people capriciously from the more fertile to insufficient patches of
barren soil, and urgently calling upon the Government to take steps for their repeal.
He said he counted it an honour of the highest kind that he had been called upon to
address Scotchmen in England on a subject of such human and social importance.
All the LL.D.'s, the D.D.'s, and the D.C.L.'s that could be showered upon him by
Europe could not give him the satisfaction that he had in standing up for the poor
crofters, in the metropolis— (Applause) — and, if for doing so, he was abused by any
Scotch or English newspaper he would glory in it. (Applause.) He never heard of
any great doctrine that was preached that was not abused at the beginning by scribes
and Pharisees and Doctors of Law — (Laughter) — and the whole mighty world of titled
and untitled men. He was not a respectable man — (Hear, hear)— nor a Bohemian —
(Renewed laughter) — but simply a citizen and a philosopher ; and, being neither a
landlord nor a tenant, he had a certain advantage in talking on the subject now
before them. He had the advantage of being an impartial spectator. He gave his
right ha*nd to the crofter, and his left to the Duke — (Laughter)— not because of
disrespect to the Duke, but because he had only two hands, and because, while he
loved them both, he loved the crofter most. What he had seen in the Highlands had
made him weep, and if in talking on this subject he should burst a blood vessel and
die, let him die. But he did not intend to die yet. (Applause.) He resigned the
Greek Chair that he might do something better, he hoped ; and he was doing some-
thing a great deal better here. (Applause. ) Let Greek and Hebrew die, let learning
die ; but let human happiness and human brotherhood live. It was a well known
historical fact that the laws of this country were made by the strong for the purpose of
making themselves stronger, and no laws were made to protect the poor people against
the natural and necessary abuse of these laws. Whatever phrases were used by politi-
cal economists or politicians, every unjust law was legalised robbery. Call him a
Scottish Parnell if they would. He did not care a straw. (Laughter.) He was
neither Tory nor Radical, but a student of history, knowing something of the agrarian
laws of other times and other countries, and he said this as a philosopher, which every
Scotchman was entitled to be. (Laughter.) All power was liable to be abused by the
nature of the thing, and unjust laws enabled people to stamp God's laws upon the
devil's work. (Laughter.) He willingly admitted that, though laws gave landlords
absolute tyrannical power, which might be, and often was, used tyrannically and op-
428 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
pressively, yet, such was the goodness of human nature, in spite of the statute-book
and the devil, and such the favourable circumstances which sometimes bound the
high and the low, these laws were not always abused. On the contrary, the universal
report of English people was that the rights of the landlord had been used often very
gently and kindly and morally. He believed that the English landholders were
better than the Land Laws naturally would make them. But neither Ireland nor the
Scottish Highlands could say the same. (Applause.) Both had fallen under
the same curse, the curse of absolute power — (Loud applause) — in the hands
of the few lords of the soil, used by the few for their own selfish purposes,
and the neglect of the rights and happiness of the many. (Applause.) In the
Divine constitution of the universe the maxim was the true happiness of the greatest
number; in the Highlands the maxim had been the greatest happiness of the few.
After adverting to the manner in which the Highlands had been depopulated, using
terms similar to those he had so often used before, he said that the professional deer-
stalker was the necessary and natural enemy of the population of the hills and glens —
(Applause) — and ought to be held up to public reproach and condemned for clearing,
for the sake of deer, the country of its best muscle and its best soldiers. To encourage
men to appropriate the whole glens was a sinful and abominable practice. There was
no doubt that the glens had been cleared of the people, and there was no doubt the
people had been huddled into corners, principally by the influence of the factors, to
make room for the big farmers. There was only one fault of which the people had
been guilty, and that was that they had been too meek and submissive. He had a
great respect for his friends the Quakers ; but he never could respect the doctrine that
one should allow himself to be kicked out of the world. He blamed Highlanders for
being a great deal too submissive, especially as experience had taught him that nothing
was to be gained in this world but by roaring and making a noise, and whether it
were the lion that roared or the ass that brayed it must be done, and therefore he was
there that night to roar. (Laughter and applause.) Depend upon it they would be
listened to. They had got a man — a "Grand Old Man," as the phrase went — (Loud
applause) — at the head of the present Government, of whom he knew something, and of
whom he could say that no man had a keener sense of justice than the Right lion. \V.
E. Gladstone. (Loud cheers.) He was perfectly sure that if they stated their case,
as the evidence of this Commission 'would show, if they kept together, and if they
roared, and roared, and roared again, they might depend upon it they would gain
their cause. He was not a politician, but only a Professor and friend of humanity, a
lover of his native country, and a man who knew something of the Highlands, and one
who was able to sing their songs, which they (his hearers) perhaps could not do.
(Laughter.) He would advise the Highland landlords to follow his example. In
conclusion, he said that the heart of a woman was to be won through her children,
and the way to a people's heart was through their language, and (he continued) you
lairds and lawyers— if you wish tp get to the heart of the people — you have wished to
get to their pocket — study their language, sing their songs, live with them, and think
more of men than of deer. (Applause.)
The resolution was supported by Mr Dick Peddie, the Rev. Dr Kennedy, of
Stepney, and unanimously adopted.
Resolutions were also passed regretting that no representative of the crofters had
been placed on the Commission, and declaring that no alteration of the Land Laws
would give permanent satisfaction which did not give the Highlanders a permanent
footing on the soil.
429
A RUN THROUGH CANADA AND THE STATES.
BY KENNETH MACDONALD, F.S.A., Scot.
VII.-- -ONTARIO— (Continued.)
CANADIANS are fond of comparing themselves with their
neighbours in the States when they can do so with advantage ;
and Ontario has one way of doing this which may mislead the
unwary. I was told in Ontario that the Province raised over
\7l/2 bushels of grain per head of her population, while the
United States raised only 5^ ; and that even the great wheat-
growing Western States of the Union produced only 10 bushels
per head, or 7^ bushels per head less than Ontario. Other
figures of the same character were given to me which showed
the same result — a large balance in favour of Ontario. A few
days later, while travelling to Chicago, I got into conversation
with a Chicago grain inspector, and on mentioning these
figures to him, he at first seemed inclined to think I had
misapprehended what had been said to me, and he asserted
that one State in the Union, his own State of Illinois, pro-
duced more grain than the whole of Canada put together.
I had at the time no means of testing the accuracy of
this statement, but, accepting it for the moment, I saw the
fallacy into which my friend and myself had been led by the
Canadian statistics. We had confused the average production
per head of population with total production. Now, it is clear
that in a thinly-peopled country a comparatively small total
product may give a large average per head, while conversely, in
a thickly-peopled country, a large total product may give a com-
paratively small average per head. Canada, with a population of
some four millions, can much more easily produce a certain
number of bushels per head of her population than can the
United States with a population of fifty millions. But there is
another way in which Canada compares herself with the States,
which is perfectly fair — that is, in the average production per
acre under cultivation, and in this it would appear that Canada
can claim to have the best of it. This is a subject, however,
430 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
which is made much more of in Manitoba than in Ontario, and
we shall have to meet it there.
Education in Ontario is free, the public schools being sup-
ported by local rates, supplemented by a contribution from the
Provincial Treasury. The schools are managed by Trustees
elected by the ratepayers. Secondary education is provided at
nominal rates, for those who desire it, in schools which are also
public and under local management. From the Secondary School
the student can pass to the University, where, again, his education
will cost him comparatively little. In the public schools of
Ontario, the children of rich and poor meet on terms of equality,
a circumstance which, no doubt, tend to obliterate class distinc-
tions among the pupils, and to lessen, even for older people, the
interval which birth or fortune may have placed between them.
There are in the province nearly 5000 public schools, besides
over 400 grammar or high schools and private academies, and
there are in addition 20 colleges and universities. The school-
houses are frequently the most prominent buildings in the smaller
towns and villages of the province, and, indeed, throughout the
whole Dominion the education of the young is treated as a matter
of the first importance. The education of children is compulsory,
and parents who neglect to educate their children are liable to
punishment. When a new district comes to be settled, one of the
first duties attended to is the erection of a schoolhouse, with
ample accommodation for the growth of the township, and so
imbued are the people with the necessity and wisdom of attend-
ing to the education of their children, that the necessary provision
for it is made with alacrity. All the public schools are free — no
such thing as school fees being known, and, notwithstanding the
great extent of the province, no family can be much beyond two
miles from a school. Sectarian differences where they exist are
arranged by the erection of separate schools, and there is a con-
siderable number of sectarian, particularly Roman Catholic,
schools in the province. In short, the provincial government
requires that every child, whatever the religious belief of its
parents may be, shall receive a certain amount of education, and
the arrangements are such that no child need be, or is allowed to
be, without education.
The climate of the province has greater extremes of both
THROUGH CANADA AND THE STATES. 431
heat and cold than the climate of Great Britain; but although the
temperature is higher in summer, and lower in winter, than with
us, the dry bracing atmosphere makes it at all times pleasant
As has already been seen, grapes and many of the finer fruits
grow freely in the open air in a large part of Ontario ; but
although this is so, it does not appear that the summer heat is at
any time disagreeable. Indeed, my own experience of summer
in Ontario is extremely pleasant. The weather was warm, the
sky clear, and there was apparently none of that uncertainty about
the weather of the day following with which we are so familiar at
home. The evenings were cool, and an occasional shower after
dark made everything fresh for the following day. It is to the
winter, however, that the Canadians look forward as their season
for pleasure-making. Cold the winter certainly is, much colder
than anything we experience in this country, but after the winter
snow falls, it becomes hard and crisp, and usually lies on the
ground until the end of winter without any appearance of thaw.
During that time sleigh-riding is indulged in by people of all
classes, friends are visited, and country trips taken, much in the
same way as these things are done by us at home in the summer
time. On all hands the winter of Ontario is declared to be the
best and most enjoyable part of the year, and it seems to be
entirely free from the damp and foggy atmosphere which we
associate with that period of the year. A recent writer on this
subject says, "the snow of Canada is a source of both pleasure
and profit. Young and old, especially the former, hail with
delight the first approach of the winter snow. There is more
real merriment in Canada in winter than in summer, although in
both seasons Canadians are a very happy people. The winter
sports, such as toboganning, snow-shoeing, skating, sleigh-riding
with a tandem team, a spanking span, or a four-in-hand is some-
thing to be experienced, not adequately described. Wrapped in
warm robes, with agreeable companions dashing away up hill and
down, across frozen rivers and lovely lakes, or over the plain, or
through evergreen groves, or along the hill sides — but you must
come and see and know for yourself. I have said that the snow is a
source of profit as well as pleasure. It is a fertilizer to the land,
while the frost which accompanies it also affects the land bene-
ficially. Without the snow the large timber trade, which is such a
432 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
source of wealth to Canada, would be almost entirely at a stand-still.
The lumber which might find its way to market without the aid
of snow to move the logs and heavier pieces of timber, would do
so at a much greater cost to the producer, and also, therefore, to
the consumer. Viewed from all points, therefore, the winters
of Canada, with their frost and snow, are a help rather than a
hindrance to the health, happiness, and prosperity of the inhabit-
ants."
NIAGARA.
After spending a day or two in Toronto, I found myself at
seven o'clock on a certain Monday morning on board the Palace
steamer " Chicora," bound for the mouth of the River Niagara.
A sail of three hours across the end of Lake Ontario brings the
traveller to Niagara, from whence he gets by rail to Niagara Falls.
On this particular morning the sail was delightful. As the steamer
clove her way through the clear blue waters of what, especially
when the land was lost sight of, one could hardly believe to be a
fresh water lake, the spirit of the scene seemed to raise the spirits
of every one among the 200 passengers on board. By-and-bye
a band, which, for speculative purposes, accompanied the ship,
came upon the quarter-deck, and chairs and camp stools having
been cleared out of the way, dancing commenced, and continued
until the Niagara was reached. Meantime I made a tour through
the ship. The traveller on the Atlantic may or may not have
the dangers of travelling by sea forced in upon him by finding
out that one of his pillows is convertible into a life-belt. The
arrangement of cork is so unobtrusively stowed away below the
down on which he lays his head at night that unless he is of an
inquiring disposition he may never find out its secondary use.
Not so, however, on the American Lake steamer. There the
traveller can hardly fail to have his curiosity aroused by the tiers
of what seem to be canvas-covered pocket-books which meet him
in all parts of the vessel. These, on enquiry, he will find to be
life-belts placed in such positions as to be accessible to every
passenger on any sudden emergency. There certainly seemed to
be a sufficient supply of them on board the good ship " Chicora,"
but fortunately we had no occasion to make use of them. About
ten o'clock we landed at the mouth of the Niagara River, and in
the course of a few minutes we were on board the train for
THROUGH CANADA AND THE STATES. 433
Niagara Falls, a distance of about fourteen miles by rail. In
half-an-hour I w-as walking from the railway station down to-
wards the river, running the gauntlet of half-a-hundred hack-
drivers, each offering to carry me all round the place on exceed-
ingly reasonable terms. But Niagara hackmen have passed into
a proverb, and I had resolved to dispense with their assistance.
This was not so easy, however, at first, but a happy thought
induced me to use the little Gaelic I had in reply, and I was
soon left alone. The puzzled look on the faces of these much-
abused fellow-Christians was ample reward for the risk I ran in
using a language I did not understand. My wish was to have
my first view of Niagara by myself, and to approach it in my own
way. The surroundings of Niagara are somewhat disappointing.
In the very midst of some of the most magnificent scenes in
nature everybody cheats. Men wearing badges, and claiming to
have been appointed by the Canadian Government, lead the way,
and naturally hotelkeepers, dealers in curiosities, guides, touts,
hackmen, down even to the dealer who disposes of his wares on
the footway or under the shade of a tree, do not think it out of
place to follow the example set them from such a quarter. Every
little place which a stranger might be supposed to have any curi-
osity to see is enclosed, where nature has not made enclosure im-
practicable. Every enclosure has a gate, at which the stranger is
met with a demand for 25 or 50 cents, and in some cases a dollar,
for admittance. But as if this was not enough, he is not unusually
asked, and always expected, to tip the attendant when leaving.
The Falls are not yet enclosed, but only the expense prevents it
being done. The visitor, therefore, may see the Falls without
paying anybody. In fact, when he comes away, he realises that
most of what he has seen worth seeing, has been, or can be, seen
for nothing, while most of what he has paid for seeing was not
worth seeing.
The first view of the Falls does not usually convey a true
impression of their magnitude. Their great width dwarfs their
height for a time until the beholder becomes accustomed to the
scene. Besides, the visitor sometimes expects too much to begin
with. He has probably read, as I had done, descriptions which
begin by stating that the Falls are indescribable, that there is too
.much sublimity and grandeur for mortal to comprehend or ex-
434 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
plain; of the great height of the precipice over which the waters
descend, of the unknown depth of the basin into which they fall,
and of their "frightful roaring," which, according to one old
chronicler, " may be heard for more than fifteen leagues." Much
of this is true, but its tendency is to lead every ordinary visitor
to Niagara to expect on the instant to be impressed in a manner
he is himself incapable of. Thus, his first look at Niagara is a
disappointment. But this is not the fault of Niagara. The
grandeur and sublimity are there, but the man is not. He has
not yet been educated up to receiving the impressions which the
scene is calculated to give, and, but for the fact that, while he
looks, the scene grows upon him, he is as if he were not there.
But no man can see Niagara long without feeling that he is be-
holding a power beside which he is as nothing, that he is looking
upon nature in her mightiest, and in the performance of one of her
most stupendous works. K. M'D.
(To be continued.)
REMARKS BY CAPTAIN MACLEOD, AS FAR
AS HE HAS BEEN INFORMED BY THE LATE JOHN
MACCRLMMON, PIPER, DUNVEGAN, ISLE OF SKYE.
MR LACHLAN MACDONALD of Skaebost has kindly favoured us
with the following notes (found among his papers) by the late
Captain Macleod of Gesto, who published the twenty pipe tunes
to which the notes refer, as specimens of ancient "Canntaireachd,"
in a work now exceedingly rare, but of which a copy, presented
by the late Rev. Alex. Macgregor, M.A., is preserved in the
Library of the Gaelic Society of Inverness. The original spelling-
is preserved, in the names of the tunes, in the notes : —
1. Luinagich, alias Auiltich. — Was played by one of Maccrimmon's predecessois
off-hand, at some time when several Highland proprietors were assembled at Dunvegan
Castle, and having their pipers attending them.
2. The Royal Oak, that saved King Charles.
3. Coghiegh na Shie (War or Peace). — Played by pipers of the different clans
who held of the Lords of the Isles (before the forfeiture of John, last Lord of the Isles)
during their independence of the Crown of Scotland, and also to bring the different
clans to battle when the Scots were to cross the Border to England.
4. Mac Vic Horomoid. — Gathering and battle-tune played when he gathered his
REMARKS BY CAPTAIN MACLEOD. 435
people to attack invaders of that part of the Isle of Skye which then and still goes
under the name of Sheil Toromade, alias the descendants of Toromade, being the
western part of Skye, consisting of the parishes of Bracadale and Minginish, Duirinish
and Waternish, and half of Snizort.
5. Mac Vic Horoinoid. — Lamentation played at the funerals of each of them; a
very old tune, and an old practise.
6. 77*1? Union of Scotland with England, named in Gaelic Molluch an Pibren.
The curse of the Pipers — they being against the Union, as it prevented the war-like
excursions of the Scots to England.
7. Kiaunidige. — Played and so named at a time when the Scots were at war in
England, and obliged to feed on the ears of corn for want of other provisions.
8. Lamentation for Donald Macleod of Greshornish. Played at his funeral.
9. Donald Groumach. — Lament played in consequence of the death of Donald
Groumach, who was shot, at the Castle of Elandonan, in Kintail, about the ankle with
a barbed arrow, and died from loss of blood before he was brought home to Sleat, in
the Isle of Skye.
10. Las son, alias the Flame of Phadrig Chiegh. —Played by Patrick Maccrim-
mon at a time he, with his party, set fire to many houses in Kintail, in consequence of
a quarrel between the Mackenzies and the Mackays of Lord Reay.
11. A Salute played by Patrick Oig Maccritnmon in compliment to the Marquis
of Tulibardine at Dunvegan Castle.
12. Kiaun na Drochid a Beig. — Played by Macleod's piper, inviting the Clan
Cameron to follow him and his party across the bridge to attack the enemy, which the
Camerons did, during a rebellion in Ireland ; and, as far as I can understand, it was
in King William the Third's time. Macleod of Macleod calls this tune his gathering
or battle tune, and the Camerons call it their gathering or battle tune, and from the
account given to me of it, they both seem to have an equal right to it, with this differ-
ence, that it was played by Macleod's piper at the head of his party, inviting the
Camerons to follow and join them.
13. Lamentation of Mac Vic Allister, commonly called Allister Dhu of Glen-
garry ; a fine old tune, and played at his funeral.
14. Caugk Vic Righ Aro, alias the Son of King Aro. — Who this son of King
Aro was I could not understand from John Maccrimmon, further than that he con-
sidered the tune was played in consequence of the death of one of the first chiefs of
Mackintosh, killed in battle (perhaps the battle of Largs) with King Alexander against
Ilaco, when a brave chief of Mackintosh fell.
15. A very old battle tune, called in Gaelic " Druim Phoulscon" in Waternish,
in the Isle of Skye, when the Macleods attacked the Macdonalds, who had come from
South Uist to plunder and take a spoil from Waternish. The Macleods made great
slaughter of the Macdonalds as they were getting into their boats at Ardmore, and
their bones have been frequently found on this spot.
1 6. Isabel Nick Kay. —Composed by a poet in Lord Reay's Country to a dying
girl, who was at the time attending her cattle at a shealing.
17. Lament for King James the Second.
18. Lament for the Laird of Ainapole.— I do not know where Ainapole is, or
who this laird was; but the tune is a very fine one, and difficult to play.
19. Tumilin O Counichen. — An Irish lively tune.
20. Kilchrist. —A tune played by the Macdonalds of Glengarry at the burning of
the Church of Kilchrist, in Ross-shire.
436 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
MARBHRANN DO'N URRAMACH A LA STAIR
MACGHRIOGAIR.
LE MAIRI, NIGHEAN IAIN BHAIN.
NA'M faighinn ciall leis an taghainn briathran,
Gu'n cuirinn sios dhuibh iad ann an dhn, f,
Mu'n teachdair' fhiachail tha nis air triall uainn,
Gu tlr na dichuimhn' le aithn' a bhais.
'S ann oidhche Chiadaoinn a bhlirc an t-sian oirnn
Nach tiormaich grian dhuinn re iomadh lh, *
'S gu bheil na ciadan 'san Eilean Sgiathach
Tha 'n diugh ga'd iargan, 's ann dhoibh nach nar.
'S ann dhoibh nach narach am basan fhasgadh,
'S na deoir a thearnadh fo rasg an sail,
'Sa liuthad cearnaidh 's na sheas thu 'n aite,
Bho'n Ih a dh'fhag thu iad air do chul,
Le d' ghniomh 's le 'd chanain, le ciall is griulh dhoil)h,
Nach gabhadh aireamh gu brath dha'n taobh,
'S fhad 'sa bhios tuinn a bualadh ri chreagan uamhraidh,
Bi' t'ainm ga luaidh ann le uaill is muirn.
Cha'n ann air tuairmse tha sinne luaidh ort,
Ge'd tha sinn gruamach air son do bhals,
Tha thus' aig suaimhneas, taobh thall gach truaighe
'S gach saighead fhuar bho luchd fuath do ghrhdh.
Gur trie a chuala mi, le mo chluasan,
Bho bheul nan uaibhreach nach d'fhuair an grhs,
Le teanga ghuamach, toirt beum 'san uaigneas
Air son do thruas ris gach truaghan bath.
Ach bu tusa an Criosduidh 'bha suilbhear, iasgaidh,
Cha b'ann le diadhachd gun dad dheth blhth ;
Do chridhe tiorail, 's do lamh cho fialaidh,
'S cha'n fhacas riamh ort ach fiamh a ghair'.
Gur iomadh duil 'bhios an cridhe bruite,
'Nuair theid an viir air an t'suil bu bhlath.
'S cha chum a chudainn na theid a shriuladh
Do dheoir ga d' ionndrann, 's ann dhoibh nach nar.
Cha'n aonadh nUire 'bhi air cuid dheth d' bhraithrean,
Is trie thug sath dhuit le teanga 15m,
Nach seasadh t'aite le neach fo amghar,
Ged dh'fhagadh aithne aca leis a Cheann ;
'Nuair chaidh mise ch:\radh air sgeir gu'm bhathadh,
Le truaghan Baillidh, gun ghradh na ch6m ;
Chuir thusa bata, le sgioba 's raimh dhomh,
'Nuair dh'fhag a phairt ud mi bhan sa pholl.
i
THE
CELTIC MAGAZINE.
CONDUCTED BY
ALEXANDER MACKENZIE, F.S.A., Scot.
No. XCIV. AUGUST 1883. VOL. VIII.
CELTIC M Y T H O L O G Y.
BY ALEXANDER MACBAIN, M.A.
IV.— RESULTS OF THE GENERAL PRINCIPLES.
THE peculiar characteristics of Mythology have now been indi-
cated; the cause of myth, and the wide diffusion of the same
myths among different nations have been discovered respectively
in the philosophy of primitive man, and the common descent of
the chief European and Asiatic nations. It has been shown that
the Aryan nation possessed what may be dignified with the name
of a civilisation ; its culture and religion were of a very high type,
though there were not wanting numerous traces of the culture of
more primitive and ruder times. It now becomes our duty to
follow the fortunes of the Mythology of one of the nations de-
scended from this Aryan parent nation, and see how it shaped
the common heritage.
It may be set down as a general principle that the Celts
ought not to have in their language, mythology, or customs, any
features inconsistent with their Aryan descent ; they may have
developed the outward and inward features of Aryan civilisation,
according to the idiosyncracies of the Celtic race, but the essential
Aryan characteristics ought still to be recognisable in the descen-
dant Celtic languages and myths. Whatever we find in these
2 E
433 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
must conform, regard being had to the development of Celtic
peculiarities, to what we know to have been true of the myths
and language of the parent Aryan tongue, or of those of one or
two of the other 'Aryan nations. Anything in Celtic myth,
language, or customs, inconsistent with an Aryan descent, or of
a plainly non-Aryan character, must first of all be distrusted
until its existence among the Celts, and them alone, has been es-
tablished on indubitable grounds. Nor must explanations of
Celtic phenomena be accepted which would imply relationship
with races outside the Aryan stock — such as with the Semitic or
Hebrew race, until clear historical or other proof is adduced.
The a priori argument against such a connection is so strong that
special care must be exercised in allowing non-Aryan explana-
tions to appear. It is needless to remark that until lately the
Celts suffered much from the injudicious and unscientific theories
of Celtic enthusiasts, and it has been only by the patient industry
of the Germans that full recognition has been given to the proper
position of the Celts among the other Indo-European nations.
Even yet, in Scotland, too little attention is paid to the scientific
facts established in Celtic ethnology and philology. For this
state of matters there is now little excuse, more especially as
within the last year or two the results of Continental and British
learning have been put before the public in the works of Mr Elton
and Professor Rhys, to both of whom the present writer must
express his great obligations.
SOURCES OF INFORMATION.
Of the old Celtic nations — their culture and their religion —
we have no native account. No Celtic language has got any
literary remains earlier than the seventh century at farthest, and
even these are but glosses or marginal Gaelic equivalents of
Latin words in manuscripts. The oldest manuscripts of connected
works cannot be traced farther back than the eleventh century.
By this period Christianity had asserted- its sway, at least in
name, and the old paganism remained only in the customs and
the heroic and folk tales of the nation. What religion existed in
Ireland and Britain a thousand years before this period of the
oldest manuscripts must be discovered, if it can at all, from some
other source than contemporary native evidence. Yet we are
CELTIC MYTHOLOGY. 439
not without a fair idea of what the old Celtic religion was. The
sources of our information in deciphering what Professor Rhys
has called " the weather worn history" of the Celts are these :
Roman and Greek writers have left contemporary accounts of
Celtic history, religion, and customs, though in the case of
religion and customs, such accounts are scrappy indeed, and
the history is generally a statement of contemporary actions
and the relations of the Celts to the favoured races of Rome
and Greece. Next to these come the monuments and in-
scriptions of ancient Gaul and Britain. These comprise mostly
the votive inscriptions to the deities, the statues, and the coin-
age of the period. The names of places, especially of rivers,
have indicated Celtic localities, migrations, and religious beliefs;
for how numerous are, for instance, the rivers with the name
Dee (goddess), showing the wide-spread ' worship of water
and rivers among the Celts? Examination also of the rude
stone monuments and the barrows of pre-historic times has
elucidated much that is dark in Celtic history, while the ex-
amination of physical characteristics in the race has helped even
more to clear up difficulties of ethnology. A judicious use of
the oldest heroic and folk tales must divulge some secrets in re-
gard to Mythology, if not to History; while modern folk-tales
and customs lend special aid in reflecting light on the past. An
intelligent scrutiny of the Roman calendar of saints will disclose
a few more Celtic divinities in the realms of saintdom; for where
the Church did not make demons or heroes of the ancient gods,
it did the next best thing — it made saints of them. In the same
way we can recognise Pagan festivals and customs in a Christian
guise; the Church festivals are nearly all the result of assimilat-
ing the existing religious customs. And, lastly, to steady our
whole results, we have to remember that the Celts are an Aryan
people, and that explanations of their customs and religions must
follow the* ordinary lines of the other Aryan nations. Where
there are differences — and there are many such — these must be
caused by the fact that the Celts assimilated with themselves an
earlier population. Notice has already been taken of the Pictish
law of succession, where descent is traced through the mother.
This implies clearly a low view of the state of matrimony, and
one clearly opposed to an Aryan source. We are therefore fairly
440 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
justified in regarding the Picts as strongly admixed with a non-
Aryan race.
In thus reconstructing the past history of the Celts, at least
three classes of savants are pressed into our service. First and
foremost is the philologist, who has within the last generation or
two completely revolutionised the science of ethnology. He has
shown in the clearest manner possible the common descent of
most of the European nations, at least as far as language is con-
cerned, and that means a vast amount, for language is followed
by a common mythology, and, in a less degree, by common cus-
toms. The next savant we draw upon is the anthropologist, or,
rather, the physiologist; he examines the remains of ancient man
and the characteristics of modern man, and classifies accordingly.
And, thirdly, we have the archaeologist, who examines prehistoric
remains and implements. These three classes of workers do not
well agree; Professor Huxley despises the ethnological results of
linguistic science, while Professor Rhys does not conceal his con-
tempt for those who decide on national descent by "skin and
skull;" and Mr Ferguson will not leave his "rude stone monu-
ments" to consider what either of them may say. Two such
men as Mr Tylor and Mr Elton are, therefore, to the ordinary
student, simply invaluable guides, from the fact that they attempt
to combine the researches of all three. From the materials
collected from these three sources, we shall proceed to give a
short account of the Celts and their religion.
THE CELTS.
When or where the people lived who spoke the original
Aryan tongue is not known with any certainty. " It seems pro-
bable," says one writer, " that their home was somewhere in
South-western Asia, and the time of their dispersion not less than
three thousand years before Christ." Fick holds that they split
up first into two parts, answering to the modern Asiatic and
European Aryans. The European branch again broke up into
two — the South-western European division and the Northern
European division. The latter included the Slavonic (Russians"
and old Prussians), and the Teutonic (English, Germans, Norse,
&c.) races ; while the Southern branch comprised the Greek,
Latin, and Celtic races. The order in which they are enumcr-
CELTIC MYTHOLOGY. 44r
ated above shows the order of their arrival in Europe ; first came
the Celts leading the van of the Southern division, whib the
Sclavs brought up the rear of all. It has been remarked that
for the purpose of attaining political greatness the Celts came
too soon, the Sclavs too late. The line of Celtic migration across
Europe has been traced in the names of places, especially the
river names. The Don and the Dnieper would appear to prove
that they crossed the Russian steppes. Yet there are evident
traces of the Celts on the ^Egean sea, which itself may be from
the root of the Gaelic aigean ; and we have the River Strumon on
the Thracian coast, which is clearly Celtic from the existence of
the s, which was lost in Greek itself; and we may add the famous
Mount Pindus — the black mount' (?), in Greece. In any case,
however, be their route whatever we please, we find the Celts in
the earliest records we have of them in possession of the greatest
portion of Western Europe. At the time of their taking Rome
in 390 B.C., the Celts would appear to have possessed, as they
certainly did two centuries later, Northern Italy, France, Belgium,
and part of Germany, most of Spain, Britain, and Ireland. How
much of the middle of Europe they then held is unknown, but
that they did possess part of what now is Germany is clear from
the names of places, and also from the fact that the Germans have,
in common with the Celts, many myths which must have then
been absorbed by the Germans in absorbing the Celtic population.
About 220 B.C. the Romans conquered Northern Italy, a hundred
years later they conquered the Mediterranean coast of France,
and seventy years afterwards Caesar conquered the whole of
France and completely crushed the Gallic power.
That is briefly the political side of their history. But there
are two points to notice in their internal history of special im-
portance in the present inquiry. The Celts, in entering Europe,
found the country inhabited, and this previous population, a non-
Aryan one of course, they either exterminated or absorbed. It
is, therefore, of vital importance to know as much as possible
about this previous population, for, naturally, its customs, beliefs,
and, in a much less degree, its language, were absorbed by the
conquering Celt. From the evidence of language and customs
alone, Professor Rhys has, in his work on " Celtic Britain," been
able to prove the existence of a previous non-Celtic and non-
442 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
Aryan population in Britain. The Pictish custom of succession
already mentioned, and the continual reference in classical writers
to some British nations who had community of wives — Caesar
erroneously attributes this to all Britain alike, Celt and non-Celt
— point to a low idea of matrimony that must have belonged to
the previous population. Again, in the list of Kings given for
the Picts, the names are not of an Aryan or Celtic type ; Aryan
names were always compounds, however much denuded by time,
but these Pictish names are monosyllabic and unmeaning. The
frequency of animal names in Pictish districts has also been ad-
duced as a proof in the same direction, though not a convincing
argument, for most nations have animal names among their per-
sonal names. Mr Elton has pointed out some peculiar legal
customs with regard to the right of the youngest son to succeed
to the father's property, and these, he thinks, indicate a non-
Aryan source. But the matter is rendered practically a certainty,
if we summon to our aid the physiologist. He finds the British
nation divided into two or more races. These are, at the least,
the small dark-skinned race and the fair-skinned race. " All the
Celts," says Mr Elton, " according to a remarkable consensus of
authorities, were tall, pale, and light-haired." The dark-skinned
race evidently belong to a different race from the Celts, and when
we consider that Europe has been inhabited for several thousand
years, and that men have existed here who used stone weapons,
and thereafter bronze, before iron came into vogue, which it pro-
bably did along with the Celts, we must believe that there was a
race before the Celts in Europe, who used stone and bronze
weapons. But the evidence does not stop here. From the con-
tents of the barrows and tombs of the stone and bronze ages, it
has been proved by the skeletons and skulls that there were two
races at least previous to the Celts; one race being the dark-
skinned and small one already mentioned, with long skulls ; the
other with fair skin and hair and broad skulls, a tall race, rough-
featured, beetle-browed, with the nose overhung at its root,
heavy cheek-bones, and prominent chin; these last differing
much from the straight-faced, oval-headed men who are recog-
nised as Celts and Aryans. The dark-skinned race of Britain is
called the*" Silurian," from the ancient tribe' so named by Tacitus
in the Vale of the Severn, and described by him as "Iberian" in
CELTIC MYTHOLOGY. 443
appearance. The fair race Mr Elton designates the " Finnish,"
from its apparent Finnish or Ugrian affinities. The Picts would
appear to be for the most part of this race, doubtless, with a
strong admixture in after times of the pure Celtic stock. The
archaeologist, unfortunately, cannot help us much, but it is be-
lieved that this Finnish race were the builders of the huge stone
monuments scattered all over Europe — dolmens, cromlechs, and
Druid circles, while the barrows of both the ante-Celtic races exist.
The influence exerted by these previous races on Celtic
customs and religion must doubtless have been considerable.
" The strangeness of the ' lower mythology' prevailing in Wales
and Britanny might afford some evidence in favour of its pre-
Celtic origin. But no country in Europe is free from those gross
superstitions which seem to indicate an underworld of barbarism
and remnants of forgotten nations not wholly permeated by the
culture of the dominant races." Professor Rhys goes so far as to
refer Druidism to the Silurian race, because Caesar mentions
Britain as the birthplace of that cultus, and it is of a character
which he considers non-Aryan. It is almost certain that second-
sight and other ecstatic moods must be referred to the pre-Celtic
races.
WELSH AND GAELS.
The second point in the internal history of the Celts is the
fact that the race is divided into two great divisions, caused by
the languages used by each. The difference between Welsh and
Gaelic is very great, yet not so great as to preclude their being
classed as one race, making up one of the Aryan branches. The
difference between the two languages can be traced as far back
as history goes, and, by monuments and inscriptions can be fol-
lowed back for two thousand years, when still the Gaelic race was
very different in language from the Welsh or British. It would
appear that the Celts overran Europe in two successive waves of
conquest. The first wave was the Gaelic one ; it was followed
by the Welsh — we may rather call it the Gaulish wave. The
Gauls push the Gaels from France into Britain and Ireland, and
then followed them into Britain. When British history begins
with the Christian era, France and Belgium were Gaulish or
Welsh-speaking, and so also was the Eastern part of England,
and the Scotch Lowlands ; while Cornwall and Devon, most of
444 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
Wales, Cumberland, Galloway, and the surrounding counties,
north of the Forth, and all Ireland belonged to the Gaels. It
must be remembered that a good portion of the population north
of the Grampians were probably non-Celtic. By the end of the
seventh century of this era no Gael lived in England ; the British
tribes had been driven back to the corners of the country by the
Saxons, and they absorbed the old Gaelic population. Ireland
was still altogether Celtic, and so remained practically till the
1 3th century and later.
The last wave of the Celts was in its turn pressed on from
two sides. First the Romans overran and garrisoned Gaul, and
then England, which they kept for four hundred years, much as
we keep India at present. Then the Teutonic nations pressed
on France from the north, conquered it and were absorbed ;
while in England they conquered and absorbed the old popula-
tion, leaving the old Welsh population to the western shores.
The eastern portion of Ireland was conquered and settled in, and
the rest has been gradually falling under the sway of the English
tongue, The Celtic speaking peoples at present are the Bretons
of Britanny, the Welsh, the Irish, and the Highlanders. The
total number who can understand a Celtic tongue is, according
to M. Sebillot, three millions and a-half (Rev. Celt., iv.y 278).
(To be continued;)
A TRULY NOBLE ACT.— The Earl of Kilmarnock, who fought bravely for
Prince Charles during the disastrous rebellion of 1745, was one of the last men to
liave the terrible field of Culloden. In the head-long flight which followed that
battle, the old nobleman stumbled along, blinded by smoke, and almost paralysed
with cold. At last he heard the tramp of cavalry, and thinking it was some of Fitz-
James's Horse, who were on the Prince's side, he made towards the sound, but, too
late, he discovered that it was a party of Cumberland's dragoons. He was at once
taken prisoner by them, and brought to the English lines. His eldest son, Lord
Boyd, was a youth of about eighteen or nineteen, and held a commission as an ensign
in a regiment of English foot. The aged Earl was triumphantly led through the lines,
and, having lost his hat in the fight, his long white hair was blown about his face by
the storm. As he approached the spot where his son stood, the youth, moved by
filial emotions and the respect due to his venerable sire, stepped out of the ranks, re-
gardless of discipline, and, before the whole Royalist army, removed his own hat, and
with it covered his father's snowy head.
445
THE HIGHLAND DRESS.
BY J. G. MACKAY.
V. — HIGHLAND ARMS — ARCHERY.
Gu ch&le tharruing na suinn
Mar shruth laidir o dha chraig,
'G aomadh, taomadh, air an r6idh,
Fuaimear, dorcha, garbh sa' bhlar
Thachair Innisfail is Lochlin.
Ceannard a spealt-cleas ri ceannard,
Is duine 'n aghaidh gach duine:
Bha cruaidh a' screadan air cruaidh,
Bha clogaide shuas'gan sgoltadh,
Fuil a dortadh dluth mu'n cuairt,
Taifeid a fuaim air min iuthar,
Gathan a siubhal ro 'n speur,
Sleagha bualadh a' tuiteam thall
Mar dhealain oidhche sa' bheinn,
Mar onfha beucach a' chuain,
'Nuair ghluaiseas an tonn gu h-ard,
Mar thorrunn air cul nan cruach,
Bha gruaim is farum a' bhlalr. — Fionn — Duan /.
THE ancient Highlanders, as might be expected from their
country and mode of life, were expert bowmen. They were
naturally given to the chase, and before the days of Game Laws
and English sportsmen, they had every opportunity of practising
an art, which, in our day, has very much degenerated in the
hands of the modern Nimrod. The Highlanders were considered
superior to their Lowland brethren in the use of the bow, and
were always employed as archers in the wars with England.
At the Battle of Pinkie (1548) there were 10,000 Highlanders
present, many of them armed with longbows. Beague, in his
History of the Scottish Campaigns, in describing that battle (in
which the Scots were defeated), says that " The Highlanders, who
show their courage on all occasions, gave proof of their conduct
at this time, for they kept together in one body, and made a very
handsome retreat. They were armed with broadswords, long
bows, and targets."
446 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
The bows were usually made of yew — the badge of the
Clan Eraser. The yew was used for bows from the earliest
times. In Dan an Deirg the following mention is made of it : —
" Mar shaighead o ghlacaibh an iughair,
Bha chasan a siubhal nam barra-thonn;"
And also in Diarmaid, who is made to say —
" A chraosnach dhearg ca' bheil thu ?
'S ca' bheil m' iughar 's mo dhorlach?"
Among Highlanders of the Argyllshire district the yew
which grew in Easragan, in Lorn, was considered the best, the
feathers for the arrows from the eagles of Loch-Treig, the wax
for the string from Baile-na-Gailbhinn, and the arrow-heads by
the smiths of the race of Mac Pheidearan. This, as in the case of
most other useful lore, was couched in verse. —
" Bogha dh' iughar Easragain,
Is ite firein Locha-Treig,
C6ir bhuidhe Bhaile-na-Gailbhinn,
'S ceann o'n cheard Mac Pheidearain."
The yew was so much prized, on account of the many pur-
poses for which it was suitable, that it was considered a sacred
tree, and was frequently planted in burying-grounds as a mark of
respect to the departed. This was a very ancient custom.
Ossian, in describing the grave of Crimor and Brasolis, says—
" 'N so fein a Chuchullain tha 'n uir,
'S caoin iuthar 'tha fas o'n uaigh."
" In this same spot, Cuchullin, is their dust,
And fresh the yew tree grows upon their grave."
The yew tree attains to a most extraordinary age, and re-
mains of very old forests of it are still to be found in the High-
lands, the most famous being that in Glenure, in Lorn (named
from the tree), and Fortingal, in Perthshire. Decandolle finds,
as the result of his inquiries, that of all the European species of
trees, the yew is that which attains the greatest age. He assigns
to the yew of Braborne, in the county of Kent, thirty centuries;
to the yew of Fortingal, in Perthshire, from twenty-five to twenty-
six ; and to those of Crowhurst, in Surrey, and Ripon, in York-
shire, respectively, fourteen and a-half, and twelve centuries.
Endlicher remarks that the age of another yew tree in the
THE HIGHLAND DRESS. 447
churchyard of Gresford, in North Wales, which measures fifty-
two English feet in circumference below the branches, is esti-
mated at fourteen hundred years, and that of a yew in Derby-
shire at two thousand and ninety-six years.
The bow was used in warfare in the Highlands as late as
the reign of Charles II. Among the last instances of which we
have any record we may mention the following : — After a long and
protracted feud between the Mackintoshes and Camerons, com-
mencing in a claim by the former to lands held by the latter, the
Mackintoshes, with the assistance of the Macphersons, number-
ing in all 1 500 men, marched to Lochaber, where they were met
by the Camerons, with 300 Macgregors, numbering together 1200,
of whom about 300 were armed with bows. When preparing to
engage, Breadalbane, who was nearly related to both chiefs,
made his appearance with 500 men, and sent them notice that
if either side refused to agree to the terms he had to propose he
should throw his force into the opposite scale. This argument
was too strong to be refuted, and after some hesitation his offer
of mediation was accepted, and the feud was amicably and finally
settled.
Another instance happened about the same time, in a con-
test between the Macdonalds of Glencoe and the Breadalbane
men. The former, being on their return from a foray in the low
country, attempted to pass through Breadalbane without giving
due notice and paying the usual compliment to the Earl (sharing
a part of the plunder.) There happened at the time to be a great
gathering at Finlarig Castle, on the occasion of the marriage of a
daughter of the family, and, being enraged at the insult, the
Campbells instantly rushed to arms, and following the Macdonalds
with more ardour than prudence, attacked them on the top of a
hill north from the village of Killin, where they had placed them-
selves in a position to defend their booty. The Breadalbane
men were defeated with great loss, chiefly caused by the arrows
of the Macdonalds. It is said that nineteen young gentlemen of
the name of Campbell, immediate descendants of the Earl's
family, were killed that day. Colonel Menzies of Culdores, who
was also present, had as many as nine arrow wounds in his
thighs and legs. — Stewart's Sketches.
It seems strange that, even in the Highlands, where firearms
448 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
were so common, bows were used in warfare at so late a period,
but stranger still, when we find them employed by the Govern-
ment, and that on board ship. The following account of an ex-
pedition of Highland archers, in August 1627, from Chambers'
Domestic Annals of Scotland^ will be found interesting : —
" In the exigencies of the unfortunate wars in which the
king became involved with France and Spain, he was led to the
strange idea of raising a small troop of Highland bowmen — most
probably it was the Chief of the Macnaughtons, a member of the
Privy Chamber, who had suggested such a levy to the king, for
he it was who undertook to raise and command the corps. At
the date noted Charles wrote to the Privy Council of Scotland, to
the Earl of Morton, and the Laird of Glenorchy asking assistance
and co-operation for Macnaughton in his endeavours to raise
the men, it being declared that they should have 'as large
privileges as any have had heretofore in the like kind.1 Mac-
naughton came to the Highlands in autumn and engaged upwards
of one hundred men for this extraordinary service. A ship lay
at Loch-Kilcheran to receive them and carry them to the field of
action. Departing in the middle of winter the ship encountered
weather unusually tempestuous, and was chased by the enemy,
and obliged to put into Falmouth. There Macnaughton wrote
to the Earl of Morton, ' Our bagpipes and marlit plaids served us
to guid wise in the pursuit of ane man of war that hetly followit
us.' He told his lordship that he would come on to the Isle of
Wight with his men as soon as possible, being afraid of a lack of
victuals where he was, and meanwhile entreated his lordship that
he would prepare clothes for the corps, for your lordship knows,
though they be men of personages, they cannot muster before
your lordship in their plaids and blue caps"
The name Fletcher has arisen from the trade of arrow-mak-
ing, in Gaelic Mac-an-Leisdeir, from " Leisdeir," an arrow-maker.
Unfortunately their arrows have not always been on the side
of their countrymen. One of their number at least, Fletcher of
Saltoun, has thrown his poisoned shafts with bitter venom against
the Highlanders.
(To be continued.)
449
THE ETHICS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY.
VI.— THE REIGN OF UNIVERSAL LAW.
"THE analogy of the constitution and course of nature suggests and makes it
credible that the moral government of God is a system, as distinguished from
unconnected and desultory acts of distributive justice ; and likewise that it is,
and must be, a system so imperfectly comprehended by us as to afford a general
direct answer to all objections against the goodness and justice of it,"
"Indeed the natural and moral constitution and government of the world are so con-
nected as to make up together but one scheme ; and it is highly probable that
the first is formed and carried on merely in subserviency to the latter, as the
vegetable world is for animals, and organised bodies for minds." — Bishop Butler.
1. The object for which these- papers were commenced was
to direct the mind of the reader to the phenomenon of natural
rent, and to attempt to assign its law to design in connection
v/ith the government and progress of mankind, acting under the
condition of labour, imposed upon man by his physical constitu-
tion, and in obedience to the original fiat —
" In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread."
In drawing towards the conclusion of this argument I am very
conscious of having too much imposed upon the patience of the
reader by tedious discussions of those controversial parts of politi-
cal economy which are involved in the question of rent. It was,
however, unavoidable, as the greatest authorities have given a
semblance of explanation by formulating theories which place
the law in materiality, and through which they view the social
disorder and inequalities which exist in the midst of plenty.
2. The scheme of nature is carried on by general laws, and
land, in every country, being more or less subject to the same
exigencies and vicissitudes, it must at once seem strange to the
most unreflecting minds that there should be so many land laws
in the world ; and even in one country that these should be so
various and of such complexity as to puzzle the most acute
minds. Almost all the evils with which nations are afflicted may
be referred to a transgression of ethical and moral laws. The
transgression of any fundamental law of nature, and human
nature is certain to produce endless disorder and wrong, which
450 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
no human legislation and ingenuity can wholly correct by the
substitution of artificial laws. The perfection of law is that it
should be harmonious with other laws, and so conceived and
framed as to be capable of universal application.
3. The creation of man, subject to the condition of labour
in the midst of all these gratuities, freely placed at his disposal,
and adapted to meet his physical wants, combined with the
existence of evil, which requires the institution of civil govern-
ment are mysteries which no theory of evolution can explain, or
at least which the human mind has not yet been able to pene-
trate. But regarding the phenomena of nature and of human
society in the light of reason alone, we observe a process of in-
crease and development leading to a higher destiny of the human
race, corresponding with an aspiration of our nature, as well as
with the hope of the Christian.
Labour, which we regard as a misfortune, and take every
opportunity to evade, is evidently the means which has been
ordained to subdue and civilise savage, rebellious man ; and for
this end, and so finally, perhaps, to lighten the burden of labour
and turn it into a source of pleasure and enjoyment has he been
endowed with an inventive genius. In truth, the lot of the
idler is not always a happy one, for he is often a burden to him-
self and a nuisance to others.
4. The process of animated nature is one of increase. These
laws of increase appear to be harmonious and to proceed by design,
in connection with man. The alarm that has been raised regard-
ing the natural increase of population and the impious reflection
that has been by implication cast on the Creator, by attributing
poverty and want to the niggardliness of nature, are surely pre-
mature, whilst nine-tenths of the habitable and culturable area
of the globe remain in a state of waste to be subdued and re-
plenished, and the portion which is already occupied, still capable
of greater improvement. Following this general law of increase,
we find the action of nature silently but effectually co-operating
— the evaporation from the ocean causing clouds and precipitat-
ing rain on the mountain tops, which, by the action of great
rivers, conveys the disentegrated rocks in the shape of soil to form
deltas in the sea and become green fields and pastures new for
future generations. Likewise the upheaval of islands and the
ETHICS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. 451
elevation of submerged coasts by volcanic action ; and even the
work of the tiny polype rearing coral reefs, which, when raised
above the surface, become covered with mould and vegetation.
This accretion of nature may be truly designated the " unearned
increment," but holding that all exchange value consists in
human labour the natural rent of land is more correctly defined,
and must be regarded as a labour residuum.
5. The normal condition of the world is, therefore, one of
increase and development, and mankind in a state of peaceful
industry follow the general law, for we find that wealth, which is
practically the means of life, is increasing more rapidly than
population. But in every age of the world the progress of
civilisation has been checked and retarded by one portion of
mankind preying upon the industry of another portion. However
much we may be left in the dark regarding the accidental
occurrences incident to human life, which Bishop Butler terms
desultory acts of distributive justice, we are not so left in ignor-
ance in reference to the regular course of nature and the instincts
and principles which have been implanted within us for our
guidance.
Man, having been endowed with intellectual and moral
faculties, under the condition of labour, it is not only credible
but very reasonable to suppose that by a physical law which we
do not rightly apprehend, by reason of being so materialistic and
so little idealistic, provision has been beneficently made to meet
the expenses of civil and moral government without falling a
burden upon individual labour.
6. Having shown that the Ricardian theory of rent does not
agree with facts, nor account for the ground rent of town lands in
any intelligible way, whilst it leads to the pernicious conclusion
that value resides in land apart from human labour, it remains to
be explained how rent arises. The time is not very remote when
land in the Highlands could afford no rent, just because the
people were rebels against the law of labour, and were given to
prey upon one another, and to other unlawful courses. In a
former chapter I undertook to explain how, by the same law, an
acre of land on a mountain side now affords a rent, upon which
no direct individual labour has been bestowed, just the same as an
acre of land in the City of London affords a rent.
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In olden times the Highlands had no commerce and hardly
a market town. But after the pacification the Government con-
structed roads and bridges, canals and forts ; gave bounties for
the development of the fisheries, and appointed civil officers for
the administration of justice. This was labour and protection of
the most valuable kind, and the Highlands were brought within
the reach of markets, and under the civilising influence of the
city. It cannot, therefore, be said that rent arose there from a
resort to lower soils. In this case its first rise was from the
direct labour of society through the action of Government ; but
the rent instead of accruing to society, or the nation, which
bestowed the labour, was allowed to go into the pockets of the
chieftains turned into landlords. If we accept it as a fundamental
principle of justice that every person is entitled to the full fruits
of his own labour and enterprise, we must also allow that society
is entitled as a whole to that which arises from the united labour
of society. In this instance we have a striking example of the
beneficial effect of the united action of society upon all its
members if allozved free distribution^ but by the taxing principle
of rent the material benefit was lost to the people.
7. As the above illustration presents the question in its
double aspect: (i) as to economic value, and (2) as to its social
and ethical bearing, let me here introduce a clause from the latter
point of view.
Then, if we regard all mankind as subject to the condition of
labour, or exchange of services, it must be a transgression of that
law which awards anything to the idler. The constitution of a
natural and harmonious society depends upon mutuality of
services. The Lord Chancellor, sweating on his woolsack,
exchanges his labour with the village blacksmith, sweating on his
coalsack. The feudal chieftain was necessary to the tribe, to lead
them in battle, and to administer law amongst them. He was
their king to whom they paid homage, and to whose support they
contributed from their labour. Converted into a landlord he is
merely a taxgatherer in his own right, and the duties which he
performed as a kinglet are now discharged by the State. The
bond of union has ceased. There are no reciprocal services.
Harmonious interests have become conflicting rights. This is
out of harmony with the universal scheme —
ETHICS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. 453
" God working ever on a social plan,
By various ties attaches man to man."
The law requires that the words " value received" shall be written
on the bill. In most cases the Highland Landlords' Bill repre-
sents no value.
8. There is, however, in addition to the direct expenditure of
the Government on the Highlands the labour residuum which, in
industrial life, and especially in a highly civilised state, constitutes
rent, and is termed by Mr Mill the " unearned increment." This
is the phenomenon which he regarded as the pons assinorum of
political economy, and from the materialistic view which he took
of man and of nature it was, perhaps, impossible for him to solve
the problem.
This appreciation of the superficies is most striking in new
countries where labour is active and population increases very
rapidly — such, for instance, as the Australian Colonies. Less
than forty years ago land might have been had for little or
nothing where Melbourne now stands; but in that city, and for a
considerable radius round about it, land has attained a value
equal to what it is in old countries in and about centres of equal
population. It is evident that the powers of the soil and a resort
to lower gradations of soil has nothing to do with this pheno-
menon.
Yet, there is a mental illusion which has to be dispelled.
We do not distinguish between cause and effect. This illusion is
produced by the marvels of a clump of soil, acted upon by sun-
shine and rain under the fertilising influence of the atmosphere.
I place this clump of soil in a flower-pot, and rear the seed-
ling. I take it to market and sell it, but I find that the price only
remunerates my labour. Nature works whilst man sleeps, and
rank weeds grow apace, whilst the sluggard lies abed. Her
work is a constant, but gratuitous factor. It is human labour
only that has value.
Fixing their attention upon varieties of soil, and seeing that
in all localities there are different degrees of fertility or quality,
especially when newly broken up, it was, perhaps, not unnatural
that economists had built a theory upon this. But at best it is
only a question of more or less rent. This is not peculiar to land,
for in all natural productions, and even in man himself, there are
2 F
454 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
degrees of quality. It will be seen, however, that this does not
affect the general law, nor account for it.
9. Then, dismissing from our minds the delusive idea that
value resides in the soil, we must account for the phenomenon of
rent on much more intelligible grounds. In order to do so we
have only to view the progress of civilisation and increase of
population in the pursuit of peaceful industry at all times and in
all places. From the fact that this natural rent of land has be-
come a subject of gambling between individuals, it has given rise
to specious arguments, which, indeed, are very difficult to combat
so long as we admit that it is a lawful transaction.
Civilisation has always centred in and proceeded from towns.
It is there that labour is most effective, on account of the saving
in time and distance, which facilitates the sub-division of func-
tions, not only in the production, but also in the distribution of
commodities. The country, in fact, is subordinate to the city. The
city is like the heart which circulates the blood in the system. Mr
Mill places value in exchange, but exchange is only one form of
labour, and the idea of value, being an undivided idea, is syrjoni-
mous with all human labour necessary to society.
10. In a previous chapter I briefly adverted to this law of in-
crease, and pointed out that it graduated from a focus. Only a
few weeks ago the Committee of the London Stock Exchange
bought 5000 feet of area for the extension of their premises, and
paid £100,000 for this small portion. The trade and pressure of
population being greater in the City of London than in any other
part of the world, the price of land is also greater. Since the be-
ginning of the century the population has quadrupled, and prob-
ably the rent has increased in the same proportion.
Now, the value reverting on the siiperficies of agricultural land
follows the same law, and its supposed inherent qualities is but a
delusion. Let us take the London Stock Exchange for the focus
of a circle or parabola, which shall embrace the United Kingdom.
At this point the pressure is greatest, and consequently land, or,
as it were, standing room for business is most valuable, and it
diminishes outward as the squares of the distances increase.
Then if we form similar circles on the map round other large
towns and cities, the same law obtains in a smaller degree, but
always in proportion of population to area. Agricultural land
ETHICS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. 455
in the vicinity of these populous centres is more valuable than at
greater distances, but not on account of any supposed inherent
value. It would be an instructive subject, into which I cannot
now enter, to examine \h.z proportion that rent, or the acquired
value of the superficies bears to the population within certain
populous areas. Time and distance measured from the centre
are the factors of calculation. The more these are overcome
there is a greater equalisation established, but no absolute
reduction in the total, as the law of increase follows numbers.
11. But it has already been pointed out that rent is the
effect of price. Adam Smith makes use of a misleading ex-
pression, when he says — " It enters into price in a different way
from wages and profit." If rent is the effect of price it cannot
enter into it. But what is price ? It is a portion of the labour
of the consumer of produce. Therefore, speaking more cor-
rectly, the purchaser of the produce pays the rent of land in the
price of the commodity. Then, on the assumption that, accord-
ing to the beautiful theory of the English Constitution, the land
belongs to the Sovereign as representing the people at large, and
as the vicegerent of God, it must seem that the consumer of pro-
duce pays for the protection and hospitality of the Sovereign in
the price of the commodity.
It is evident, therefore, that we must refer this law of ap-
preciation of the superficies to increase of population, under the
condition of labour and competition. In every other form of
industry, however, competition always tends to keep down price,
but competition in land forces up rent. Therefore that competi-
tion which is advantageous to society in other pursuits, is, in re-
spect of rent, disadvantageous, unless appropriated by the Sove-
reign for the use of society, which, as I have said, appears by a
law of nature to be its destination according to a beneficent
design. If appropriated by an idle and prodigal class, in main-
taining a retinue of unproductive dependents, it has a prejudicial
tendency of withdrawing capital from the sphere of reproduction
to the sphere of consumption. "Every prodigal man," says
Adam Smith, " appears to be a public enemy, and every frugal
man a public benefactor."
12. But in every age and in every country land has been
recognised as the natural source of the Sovereign's revenue as
456 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
well as for the support of religion. It is clear, therefore, that if
this natural rent is diverted from its proper purposes, and
appropriated by individuals who do not perform public duties,
there is a transgression of natural law which must result in in-
justice, and produce a disturbance of social harmonies. It may,
indeed, be still supposed that it would be dangerous to social
order to weaken the authority which has been always more or
less wielded by material power. I am, however, disposed to think
that the municipal organisation of our cities have so far advanced,
and that the influence of education and religion has sufficiently
extended into the rural districts, to confer equal freedom upon
agriculturists. The reign of the individual must cease. Mankind
must be governed on principles of justice in a condition of freedom
and equal rights. If progress cannot be made, and social order
preserved in this way, it is much less likely that landlords can
assist government by wielding a law of necessity, and by acting,
not on that principle of reciprocity and harmony of interests, in
which feudal tenures had their origin, but as it were on the viscera
of their unfortunate subjects.
13. In the "dismal" science of political economy the com-
mon argument in favour of private property in land is, that it has
proved advantageous to society in producing a greater supply of
produce than if it had remained in common. The question is
not between private property in land and land in common, but
between private property and landlordism. The latter is a
mongrel tenure, which is neither private nor public, but a speices
of sub-sovereignty which partakes of the character of despotism.
Real property in land, in the proper sense of the word, is that
which is held in freehold by the occupier, and in that form Eng-
land attained her proud position, not only in industry and com-
merce, but also in civil and religious liberty. No subject can
supply the future historian with more suggestive matter for com-
ment and surprise than the indifference shown by the English
people to the operation of class-made and unconstitutional laws,
under which her freehold system was being slowly but surely
undermined, and converted into feudal estates, whilst continental
nations, in the throes of revolution, were reforming their systems
on the principle and model of English freeholds. From the very
nature of land there must be private property in it to the end of
ETHICS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. 457
time, because, for one thing, labour gets incorporated with it, and
the antecedent labour bestowed on its reclamation under the con-
dition of continuous labour is never lost, and by an instinct and
law of human nature a man claims his own " for ever" to transmit
by his own free will out of love for posterity.
It is sufficient that it be held as an abstract constitutional
principle that the Sovereign is sole allodial owner, and the only
way in which Government can overtake, and be safely entrusted
with the duty of acting for society, is through its ever-active
principle of taxation.
14. As a question between society and the landlords, it does
not admit of any doubt that they are in possession of revenue,
which, viewed both in a historic and philosophic light, of law
appertains to the State. This, however, is but a small transgres-
sion of public justice. That which involves a restraint upon hu-
man freedom, and sanctions a system which enables the so-called
owner to tax the powers and gifts of nature, by living in the sweat
of another man's face whilst he even claims exemption from those
risks and fortuitous accidents which are incident to human life in
the sphere of industry, is a rebellion against the divine ordinance
which is clear to human reason by the constitution and course of
nature.
I am constrained to make the remark that, as the command
" Thou shalt not lend land, nor charge usury upon the gratuitous
gifts of God," has not been placed in the Decalogue, blind man
has failed to perceive that it is written on the tablets of nature ;
and the ministers of a corrupted Christianity, ever aspiring to
civil power, and caring more for loaves and fishes than for the
cause of truth and justice, have lent themselves to preaching and
propping up the divine and sacred rights of personal rule and
material force.
Guernsey. MALCOLM MACKENZIE.
Mr MALCOLM MACKENZIE, author of the foregoing remarkably able article, visited
Inverness, and attended the Annual Meeting of the Gaelic Society, heM on the I2th
of July, during the Wool Market week.
458 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
THE BRAVE OLD SKYE CROFTER.
THE name of Donald Nicolson has often turned up before the
Royal Commission during its sojourn in the Isle of Skye.
Donald was formerly of Totescore, and now of Solitot, Kilmuir.
He appeared before the Commission at Uig, and rehearsed such a
tale as elicited from Sheriff Nicolson the remark, " He is a brave
old fellow." The short account of that incredible tale of factor
tyranny and cruelty which has appeared in our home news-
papers has since been translated and published in almost every
language in Europe, and we propose to preserve it in full in these
pages as a specimen of many cases which have occurred in
recent years in the Highlands, but which have never reached the
public ear.
Nicolson stated that he was past 78 years of age; that he was
formerly a crofter, but that Captain Fraser all at once doubled
his rent, which increase he most reluctantly agreed to pay. He
was then asked to pay £i more, which he naturally refused,
after which he was forcibly evicted, and his lot given to Mr Mac-
leod, the tacksman of Monkstadt, local factotum for Captain
Fraser,, who sent round word that any one who gave Nicolson
a night's shelter would be treated in a similar manner next
year. Having related how he was evicted from his home and
lands and turned outside, he continued —
My son's wife and her two young children were with me, and we were all that
night in the cart shed, and our neighbours were afraid to let us in, and were crying
over us. There was plenty of meal outside, but we had no fire to make a cake. We
lived in the stable all the summer. I could only erect one bed in it, and my daughter
and my son's wife and two children slept in the bed, and myself slept on the stones.
During a vacancy the Presbytery of the Established Church allowed me to enter
the glebe. After that I got refuge in the house of a poor woman at Duntulm,
and the factor, Mr Alexander Macdonald, Portree, challenged the tacksman of
Duntulm for allowing this poor woman to keep me in her house. Mr Grant, the parish
minister, supports me now. That happened five years ago.
The witness then appealed to Mr Dugald Maclachlan, banker,
Portree, who was present as interpreter, for confirmation of his
story ; and at the request of Lord Napier Mr Maclachlan gave
the following explanation : —
THE BRAVE OLD SKYE CROFTER. 459
After Nicolson was put out of his house he entered a cart-shed, and thereafter
he entered the stable : then he was evicted a second time, and an interdict taken out
against him forbidding him to enter for ever his dwelling-house, or at all to enter
upon the lands, except for the purpose of preserving his crop, which Mr Macleod
had refused to take over with the croft. Under stress of circumstances, he entered the
barn with his family. He was had up for breach of interdict, and for this breach of
interdict he was fined xos, with the alternative of five days' imprisonment. The
expenses of the interdict were £8. Then there was a year's rent due, and in addition
to that he was charged with "violent profits," which means the doubling of the rent
for remaining in possession after the term. The whole came to £3$ odds, which the
man paid.
Lord Napier — But do you mean to say that that money was really exacted, and
passed into the factor's hands ?
Mr Maclachlan— Yes. I arranged with the factor for him, and advanced the
money out of the bank. When the markets came round he realised his stock, and
paid me every penny of it.
In conclusion, Nicolson said that his family was all scattered
now, but if he got a piece of land, although he was now 78 years
of age, he would gather his family again about him.
When Mr Alex. Macdonald was afterwards giving his ac-
count, at Portree, of Skye affairs — de rebus Sgiathanorum — to the
Royal Commissioners, the case of the "Brave Old Crofter" was
referred to. The burden of Mr Macdonald's explanation was —
That Nicolson was a litigious and disagreeable neighbour who kept more stock
than he was entitled to, and allowed those to stray on neighbouring lands. Many
complaints were made of him. There was a decree got against him for about £$$
35. 2d., and off that he (Mr Macdonald) struck voluntarily ^25; that left £30, and
against that he was credited with the value of his house and effects to the extent of
£16. He had only the remainder, £14, to pay. The law expenses, so far as he
personally was concerned, were £9 to £10. £6 was paid to sheriff-officers, and the
remainder was put to the credit of the incoming tenant, who had been kept out of the
croft for a considerable time.
This explanation did not agree with the statement made by Mr
Maclachlan, who had corroborated Nicolson, at Uig ; and at the
close of his examination subsequently, at Portree, Mr Maclachlan
desired to make a further explanation regarding the case. He
said that he feared an impression had gone abroad that there was
a discrepancy between the two statements. There were some
outsiders who did not altogether understand the question.
Lord Napier — I don't altogether understand it myself.
(Laughter.)
Mr Maclachlan stated that the whole sum of £35. us. 8d
was paid to the landlord — and no portion of it was returned ;
46o THE CELTIC MAGAZINE,
and he produced a receipted account under Mr Macdonald's
hand, being a note of " Rent and violent profits and expenses
due by D. Nicolson to Captain Fraser of Kilmuir." The note,
which Mr Maclachlan produced, was as follows : —
E/xpcnscs decerned for
4. l8
s
Do. further . .
^ 4
n
Extracting
o 10
6
Officer ejecting and party . . . .
2 18
o
Expenses of Interdict proceedings
8 o
6
Total
/7C II
S
Less Valuation of House
i* 17
6
Balance paid in cash £19 14 2
The proprietor thus got the total sum of £35. us. 8d. from
Nicolson. Of that sum, £1$. 175. 6d. was the valuation of
Nicolson's own property, while the balance of £19. 143. 2d. was
paid by Mr Maclachlan (acting for Nicolson) to the factor on
5th December 1877, and for which he held the receipt produced.
Mr Macdonald here said that anything which was got for
violent profits went to the incoming tenant to pay the damage
which he was entitled to for not getting possession at Whitsun-
day. The proprietor got the rent, and nothing but the rent ;
and, of course, Mr Maclachlan did not know that.
Mr Maclachlan — Of course, I don't ; but Nicolson paid to
you, in the first place, the sum that I have mentioned.
Lord Napier, to Mr Macdonald — Have you any other state-
ment to make ? Nicolson's statement was that his rent had
been doubled, and that he was willing to stick to his land for all
that, but that he was charged £i more, which really was the
straw that broke this tenant's back.
Mr Macdonald— That was his statement, but we deny it.
It was for his own misconduct we put him out.
Lord Napier — Was Nicolson's rent doubled ?
Mr Macdonald— It was, my lord.
Lord Napier — Now, Mr Macdonald, why was his rent doubled.
Mr Macdonald— It was doubled when all the other rents were doubled. (Great
laughter.)
Lord Napier— Were all the other rents doubled ?
Mr Macdonald— His rent was doubled like all the other rents of that township,
THE BRAVE OLD SKYE CROFTER. 461
and it was according to the valuation of Mr Malcolm, Nairn. This man was evicted
for his own misconduct.
The Chairman — Mr Maclachlan alluded to a model eviction on another
estate— a case in which all the tenants petitioned the proprietor to have a certain
tenant removed. Now, was the case of this poor man Nicolson as bad as that one ?
Mr Macdonald— I think it was a worse case— (" Oh ")— or, at least, fully as bad.
(Laughter.) Mr Macdonald added that the other tenants complained of this crofter
(Nicolson), but he himself had no ill-will towards him. He thought, however, his
eviction was perfectly justifiable.
Mr Maclachlan had no doubt it would involve a long inquiry to prove Nicolson 's
misconduct ; but he would say that the impression which this eviction left on his
mind at the time was that it was a most high-handed and arbitrary exercise of the
landlord's legal rights. (Loud applause.)
Mr Macdonald — That was only your impression.
Lord Napier — We are quite sure that in this matter Mr Maclachlan acted a most
honourable and humane part according to his judgment. (Loud applause.)
At a subsequent stage of the proceedings, Mr John Macleod,
late of Monkstadt, and now of Duntulm, was examined. He
presented a most melancholy appearance, spoke in a low tone,
heaved a deep sigh after each answer, and to the questions of
Sheriff Nicolson generally responded with a doleful " Oh, yes" or
" Oh, no." At the close of his examination the factor urged him
to make a statement about Donald Nicolson. This he did, to
the effect that a long time ago another man had been evicted
to make room for the brave old crofter. This " Brave Old
Crofter," however, soon became a disagreeable neighbour, and
allowed his stock to wander over Macleod's ground. On one
occasion the stock was pounded. Nicolson was requested to
pay a certain sum for the trespass, but he refused out and out.
The stock was left for several days on Macleod's hands, and
ultimately, to his great annoyance, he had to return the animals
without receiving any pounding money from their owner.
As stated at the outset, an incomplete account of this shame-
ful story appeared in almost every newspaper and every language
in Europe. It has been the theme of conversation and adverse
criticism in every club and household in the kingdom, and any
comment here is quite unnecessary. The mere record of the
facts is enough to make every free-born Briton blush for the fair
fame of his native land.
W. M.
462 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
IAIN MAC MHURCHAIDH'S SONGS.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
TE ANTE, HAWKE'S BAY, NEW ZEALAND,
I4th May 1883.
SIR, — A friend kindly sent to me copies of the Celtic Maga-
zine containing some of Iain Mac Mhurchaidh's songs, and as
you wish for more of them, I take pleasure in writing to you
anent the bard's productions. I had all, or versions of all, you
published. The following is the version I had of one of them: —
ORAN LE IAIN MAC MHURCHAIDH.
Rinn e 'n t-6ran so air dha fein 's do nabuidh bh'aig ann an Achaghairgean
dhol an aghaidh a ch&le.
'S a' mhadainn 's mi 'g 6iridh,
Cha'n 6ibhinn mo shuain dhomh,
Bho na chaidh gluasad fodh'm thar a' Mhaim.
Measg dhaoine gun aithne,
Bha 'n t-aineolas fuaighte,
Riutha m' an d'fhuair iad mise 'n am pairt.
Thog mo nabuidh le breugan
Droch sgeula nach cual e,
Dh'aindeoin a thuaileis ga chuir orm os-aird..
Ged rachadh e h-uca,
Gheibh e cuid nach toir cluas d'a,
Eadar Strath Chluanaidh 's Bealach-a-spairn.
Gleann dorcha gun chuideachd,
Gun suigeart, gun suairceas,
Tha mise fo ghruaim o thainig mi 'n ait,
A nail air a' bhealach,
'S e 'm braman a ghluais mi,
Thighinn o 'n tuath 's an robh tuigse 's an daimh.
Cha b'e carraid an 6traich,
Bu dedin leis an tuath sin,
Ach cleachdadh a b' uaisle ghabh iad os laimh.
Bhi 'g 61 air a cheile,
Le reidhbheart gun ghruaman,
'S buinidh dh'fhear suarach fuireach o 'm pairt.
IAIN MAC MHURCHAIDH'S SONGS. 463
ORAN LEIS AN UGHDAR CHEUDNA (A Fragment).
Thoir an t-soraidh so uam-sa,
Gu mnaoi uasail tha thall a' so,
B' i mo bhana-charaid choir i,
'Nuair a b' bg mi gun leannan.
Chuir i sgeul orm os aird,
Nach b' araidh air caileig mi,
'S nach fhaighinn-se t6 dhiubh,
A ghr&dheadh an t-aran dhomh.
Thubhairt ise — cha chordadh,
Duin' 6g 'us e falamh rium,
'S e gu misgeach gle, 61ar,
Air bheag storais gu 'cheannach,
Cha chluinnear a' spr&dh aig
A' geumnaich m' an bhaile,
'S cha'n 'eil fios gu de 's feum dha,
'S fear gun che"ill a bheir bean da.
Thuirt lain-. —
Ged tha mi gun nl,
Cha'n 'eil m' inntinn a' gearain,
'S cha bhi mi gun mhnaoi,
Mur do mhill air mo bharail.
Tha caileagan oga
Gun ph6sadh 's gach baile,
'Us gheibh mise dhiubh t6
Mu's dighear mi falamh.
Tha fear eile 's an duthaich
Thug a ruin do na chaileig,
'S cha tugadh is' dha i,
Ged dh'fhagadh e 'n talamh ;
Ged sgriobhadh e mh&n
Air clar le penna,
B'fhearr leath' mart anns gach laimh,
Gu paldheadh an fhearainn.
Thuirt am fear eile '» am Vjhior\—
Ge math mart anns gach Ihimh,
Tuitidh pairt dhuibh gu neo-ni,
'S bi'dh mo phenna-sz. Ikthair,
Dh'aindeom failingeadh earraich, '
Theid mi 'chuideachd dhaoin-naisle,
Tharruing cluasan mo sporain,
'Nuair bhios es' air an uj'lar,
'Gleidheadh curaim an doruis.
464 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
DUANAG, LEIS AN AON CHEUDNA.
Rinn e 'n duanag so air dha togail air gu dhol a dh' America, 's cairdean da air
dol an sin roimhe.
/T0WW__Togamaid fonn air na feara,
Dh'fhalbh uainn a null's a chaidh thairis,
Togamaid fonn air na feara.
B'fhearr learn gu'n cluinninn uaibh sgeula,
Cia mar tha sibh 'n d&gh na mara ?
Togamaid fonn, &c.
'M bi sibh 'g iarraidh tuilleadh chairdean,
Dh'fhios an alte d' rinn sibh fantainn.
Togamaid fonn, &c.
Tha sinn an so troimh a cheile,
Leis gach sgeul' a tha-sa 'g aithris.
Togamaid fonn, &c.
'S iomadh fear tha aim am breislich,
'N dull ri teisteanas m' an earrach.
Togamaid fonn, &c.
'M fear tha falamh cha'n eil diu dha,
Ge b'fhearr e na triuir 'an carraid.
Togamaid fonn, &c.
Aig uachdaran cha bhi spels dha,
Bho nach fhaic e 'spreidh 's na gleannaibh.
Togamaid fonn, &c.
'M fear gam bi ni cuirear sh,radh annt',
Gus am paidhear mkl an fhearainn.
Togamaid fonn, £c.
Cuiridh dhaoine fein e suarach,
'S e mo thruaighe 'n duine falamh.
Togamaid fonn, &c.
'Fhir thairg am baile fo bharr dhomh,
Gu'n d'fhag thu mo bhrathair falamh.
Togamaid fonn air na feara,
Dh'fhalbh uainn a null 's a chaidh thairis.
Togamaid fonn air na feara.
As I have seen in an issue of the Inverness Courier^ which
came to my hand recently, that the Earl of Dunmore has been
elected Chief by the Inverness Gaelic Society, I will fill up this
sheet by giving a copy of a " Duanag" which I composed to him
some years ago on seeing him and hearing about him in Tarbert,
Harris. —
IAIN MAC MHURCHAIDH'S SONGS. 465
DUANAG, DO DH-IARLA DHUNMOR, TRIATH NA H-EARADH.
Seinn o-ho kill 5-ho,
Seinn 5 -ho" ro ii-o,
Seinn S-hQ kill o-h5,
Laill 6-h6 ro-fc-o.
An diugh dh'eiltich mo chaileachd,
Ris a' Bhraigheach dheas, shunndach,
'S fair a nuas a dheoch-slainte,
Ged phaidhinn na cruin oirr'.
Seinn o-ho, &c.
Sud air slainte 'n fhior armuinn,
So a mhan i le durachd,
'Us mo gheibh e mo mhiann-sa,
Gur riarach gach cuis dha.
Seinn o-ho, &c.
Bi'dh e fallain gun fhailling,
Caitheamh 'laithean gu nmirneach,
Gur a pailt bhios gach maoin dha,
'S cha bhi 'n t-Aog dha 'n a chhram.
Seinn o-ho, &c.
'S ann bha 'n ukidh ro cheutach,
Anns a' ch&s rinn do ghitilain,
Sud an t-ultach bha dibhinn,
Leis an t6 thog m'a glim thu.
Seinn o-ho, &c.
'S ann tha 'n t-achksan speiseil,
Aig an t£ rinn thu phosadh,
Fhuair i coluinn a chaoimhneis,
Agus moighre na duthcha.
Seinn o-ho, &c.
'S foinnidh, Ie6mhant' am mac thu,
Pearsa thaiceil 's i subailt',
Aghaidh cholgail, 's stiil ghaisgeil,
'S glan lainnir do ghnuise.
Seinn o-ho, &c.
'Fhleasgaich 6ig a chuil dualaich,
Fhir na h-uaisle neo-lubaich,
'S ann tha taghadh nan uachd'ran,
Aig an tuath tha fo d' stiuireadh.
Seinn o-ho, &c.
Gum beil d'fhearann mar bhk e,
Cha deach aird air 'an cuinneadh,
'S fhad 's a bhios iad 'an slainte,
Cha bhi mal a' cur sguig orr'.
Seinn o-ho, &c.
466 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
'S mor gum b'fhearr leat bhi agad,
Fior cheatharnach ditimhlaich,
Na fear liugach bheir 'anam
Air son beartais nach fhiu e.
Seinn o-ho, &c.
'Nuair a bhios tu le d' isnich,
Dol tro' fhireach nan udlaich,
Bi'dh do ch6mhlan gad leanmhuinn,
'Ruith gu meanmnach 's na stucan.
Seinn o-ho, &c.
Sud an fhaoghaid neo-chearbach,
A bhios sealbhach fo d' iuil-sa,
'S tu a' leagail nan garbh dhamh,
Leis an arm ud nach diult dhuit.
Seinn o-ho, &c.
Tuitidh 'n eilid bheag, luaineach,
Dh'aindeoin luaitheid a cursachd,
Sin 's an coileach 's a' liath-chearc,
Air an sgiathaibh ge siubhlach.
Seinn o-ho, &c.
Cha bhi beathach 'am bealach,
No 'an glacaig nach duisg sibh,
'S thig do ghillean gu h-anmoch
Le 'n Qallachan gu d' urlar.
Seinn o-ho, &c.
Sud an t-urlir 'm bi 'm pailteas,
Chuir an airtneal 'n a smuid dhitibh,
'S deoch 'am piosan ga leagail,
Aig na fleasgaich ga stighadh.
Seinn o-ho, &c.
'N Caisteal-Fhinn nan clach snaidhte,
Dhaingean, bhaidealach, thurach,
lonad tathaich nan gaisgeach
Ealamh, sgaiteach lann dii-ghorm.
Seinn o-ho, &c.
'S pailt do thuath air gach taobh dhiot,
'S iad a dh-aon-toil 'n an urnuigh,
Guidhidh slainte 's fad saoghail
Dhuit a laochain mo ruin-se.
Seinn o-ho, &c.
Ceann na tuath' thu 's nan ddirceach,
Ceann na ceille, 's na cifrine,
Ceann feartach nan camag,
'S glan a laidheadh an cruii air.
Seinn 6-h5, laill 6-ho,
Seinn 5-h6, ro h-o,
Seinn 6-h5, kill 6-h6,
Laill 5-h5, ro-ii-o. F. D. MACDONELL,
46;
THE HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS.
By the EDITOR.
VIII.
THE FAMOUS SIR EWEN DUBH— His YOUTH.
XVI. EWEN CAMERON of Lochiel, generally known among the
Highlanders as " Eoghainn Dubh," was, as already seen, a minor
when his grandfather died. Allan, the fifteenth chief, having
died before his father, Ewen succeeded as his grandfather's heir.
He was born in February 1629, in the Castle of Kilchurn, the re-
sidence of his mother's family, the Campbells of Glenorchy, im-
mediate ancestors of the Earls of Breadalbane. For the first
seven years of his life Ewen was brought up, according to the
custom of the times, in the house of his foster-father, " an antient
gentleman, and captain of a numerous tribe of the Clan Cameron,
called by his patronimick, the tribe of Mackmartins," after which
his care and education devolved upon his uncle, Donald, who, as
his guardian, by his skill and industry, preserved to him the re-
maining portion of the estate, most of which was lost during
Allan's later years, when, from old age and infirmities, he was
unable to look after his own interests.
The Marquis of Argyll, whose interest in Lochiel and his
property had become more marked in recent years, feared that the
youth's education might be neglected in Lochaber, and he strongly
urged the propriety that he should be handed over to his Lord-
ship's care. After considerable difficulty and hesitation on the
part of the clan this was agreed to, and Ewen, when twelve years
of age, proceeded to Inveraray, where, in 1641, he was placed
under the charge of a special teacher. This was an important
period in the history of Scotland. Argyll and Montrose were
soon to lead two opposing armies — the one for the Covenant and
the other for the King. Argyll ravaged, burnt, and plundered
the lands of Montrose, and Montrose retaliated by returning the
compliment ten-fold, carrying the war into the county of Argyll,
even to Inveraray. Soon after, on the 2nd of February 1645,
the Battle of Inverlochy was fought, on which occasion three
468 THE CELTIC MAGAZINp.
hundred Camerons joined Montrose, although their young Chief
was still under Argyll's charge. The result of this battle is too
well known to need recapitulation here. It is stated that old
Allan, who was still alive, but too frail to lead his men, looked on
from a distance, and, immediately after the battle, congratulated
Montrose on his great victory, and entertained him for four days
in Lochaber. It will appear strange that Argyll still continued
favourable to the Camerons and their young Chief, and carefully
attended to his education, but he had hopes, no doubt, of instilling
his own views into the mind of his youthful charge, and, through
him, ultimately secure the clan in support of his own crooked
policy. In this, however, he was completely disappointed. Our
hero had already begun to give evidence of the qualities which he
exhibited in so remarkable a degree during his long and glorious
career as a Highland Chief. Pennant says that the Marquis of
Argyll, intending to bring him up "in the principles of the Cove-
nanters, sent him to school at Inverara, under the inspection of a
gentleman of his own appointment. But young Lochiel pre-
ferred the sports of the field to the labours of the school. Argyll,
observing this, brought him back to himself, and kept a watchful
eye over him, carrying him along with him wherever he went."
This is fully corroborated by the author of the Memoirs^ who
says that " His Lordship had omitted nothing that he thought
could contribute to the improvement of the fine qualities which he
daily found increasing in his young ward." When about fourteen
years of age, he was " of a good growth, healthful, vigorous, and
sprightly. Though he had a good genius for letters, and a quick
conception, yet his excessive fondness for hunting, shooting,
fencing, and such exercises so carried his mind that he showed
no inclination for his book, which obliged his preceptor often to
execute his authority." The Marquis, after the Battle of Inver-
lochy, went South on some State business, taking his ward along
with him, with the view of entering him at Oxford to complete
his education. Passing through Stirling, on his way, he halted,
that his companions and followers might obtain refreshments,
but the pestilence, which at that time raged through the king-
dom, did so to such an extent in the town, that Argyll deemed it
not prudent to leave his carriage. Lochiel, however, stole away
unperceived, and wandered through the town without any idea or
HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS. 469
concern as to the risk he was incurring. A search was made for
him, when he was found in a house where the whole family was
infected with the plague, but he marvellously escaped, to the
great gratification of the Marquis and his friends.
On the way South they remained a few days in Edinburgh,
and afterwards at Berwick, where Lochiel often ran " the risk of
getting his brains dashed out in quarrels, which he was daily
engaged in with the youth of that town ; so soon did he begin to
act the patriot, and to employ his courage in vindication of the
honour of his country." Argyll found it necessary not to permit
him to go out of doors without a guard of two or three men to
keep him out of mischief, if any one reflected in the slightest
degree upon his Highland countrymen.
On another occasion, when Montrose attacked Castle Camp-
bell, a stronghold on the borders of Fifeshire, then in possession
of Argyll, a party of the Macleans, who were out with Montrose,
marched up to the very walls of the Castle. Though the garrison
was six times the number of the Islanders, the inmates of the
Castle "had not the courage so much as to fire a gun, or even to
look them in the face." Young Lochiel, who was present, was
so disgusted with the cowardly conduct of the Governor of the
Castle that he turned upon him and told him to his face that he
and every one of his garrison ought to be hanged ; and then
turning to Argyll he exclaimed, " For what purpose, my lord,
are these people kept here? Your lordship sees the country
destroyed ; and that they may be easily cut to pieces, one by one,
without their being capable to unite and help one another ; but
your fellows are so unfit for the business for which they were
brought here, that they have not courage so much as to look
over the walls." Argyll made scarcely any answer at the tim?,
but he soon after dismissed the Governor, making him the scape-
goat for what had actually occurred before his own eyes, while
he was present in the Castle and could have assumed the com-
mand himself.
After the Battle of Philipshaugh, which had proved so disas-
trous to Montrose, a Parliament was held by the Covenanters at
St Andrews, and several of the leading prisoners were taken
thither to receive their doom. Among those condemned to
death, on that occasion, were the Earl of Hartfell, Lord Ogilvy,
and Sir Robert Spotiswood. Argyll took Lochiel along with
2 G
470 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
him to that " bloody assembly." Though yet " too young to
make any solid reflections on the conduct of his guardian, yet he
soon discovered an aversion to the cruelty of that barbarous
faction." He was in the habit of visiting the prisoners personally
in their dungeons as he travelled from place to place; but, as he
was not acquainted with the reasons of their confinement, he is
said to have had no other object in view than to satisfy his
curiosity. Lord Ogilvy, one of those condemned to die, had
cleverly effected his escape the night before the day appointed
for his execution. Another, the Earl of Hartfell, was saved
through the influence of Argyll, "out of mere spite" to the
Hamiltons, " whose blood [Hartfell's] they thirsted for." In con-
sequence of Lord Ogilvy's escape, Sir Robert Spotiswood, and
the others under sentence of death, were so strictly guarded that
their nearest friends and relatives were denied access to them.
Lochiel, however, determined to see the unfortunate men before
their execution, and the difficulty of effecting his purpose only
increased his curiosity and resolution to carry it into effect. He
chose his opportunity when Argyll was otherwise busily engaged,
and finding his way alone to the stronghold in which the doomed
Royalists were confined, he called for the Captain of the Guard,
and boldly demanded admittance. The officer, hesitating as to
what he should do, excused himself by the strictness of his orders.
Lochiel, nothing daunted or put out, answered, " What ! I
thought you had known me better than to fancy that I was in-
cluded in these orders! In plain terms, I am resolved not only
to see these gentlemen, but expect you will convey me to their
apartments." These words were spoken with such assurance
that the Captain of the Guard, fearing the frowns of the
Marquis if he disobliged his favourite, ordered the doors to be
opened, personally showed Lochiel into Sir Robert Spotiswood's
room, made excuse that he could not stay, and then retired,
leaving the two alone together. This interview became the
turning point in Lochiel's career, and what took place is altogether
so interesting, and so eloquently told by the author of the
Memoirs, that it is thought best to give it in his own words,
merely modernising the spelling. Our author says : — That
venerable person [Sir Robert Spotiswood] appeared no way
dejected, but received his visitant with as much cheerfulness, as
if he had enjoyed full liberty. He viewed him attentively all
HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS. 471
over ; and, having informed himself who he was, and of the
occasion of his being in that place, " Are you," said he, " the son
of John Cameron, my late worthy friend and acquaintance, and
the grandchild of the loyal Allan MacCoilduy, who was not only
instrumental in procuring that great victory to the gallant
Marquis of Montrose, which he lately obtained at Inverlochy,
but likewise assistant to him in the brave actions that followed,
by the stout party of able men that he sent along with him ;"
and then embracing him with great tenderness, he asked how
he came to be put in the hands of the Marquis of Argyll ? And
Lochiel, having satisfied him as well as he could, he continued,
" It is surprising to me that your friends, who are loyal men,
should have entrusted the care of your education to a person so
opposite to them in principles, as well with respect to the Church
as to the State ! Can they expect you will learn anything at
that school but treachery, ingratitude, enthusiasm, cruelty,
treason, disloyalty, and avarice." Lochiel excused his friends
and answered that Argyll was as civil and careful of him as his
father could possibly be, and he wished to know why he charged
Argyll with such vices. Sir Robert answered, that he was sorry
he had so much reason ; and that, though the civility and kind-
ness he spoke of were dangerous snares for one of his years, yet
he hoped, from his own good disposition, and the loyalty and
good principles of his relations, he would imitate the example of
his predecessors, and not of his patron. Sir Robert then pro-
ceeded to explain the history of the Rebellion from its very
beginning, the different factions that had conspired against the
Crown, the nature of the Constitution, insisting much on " the
piety, innocence, and integrity of the King." He omitted no
circumstance which he thought necessary to give Lochiel a clear
conception of the state of affairs. The youth was amazed at the
narrative, to which he listened with great attention. It greatly
affected him, and " he felt such a strange variety of motions in
his breast, and conceived such a hatred and antipathy against
the perfidious authors of these calamities, that the impression
continued with him " for the remainder of his life.
Sir Robert Spotiswood was naturally much pleased that his
remarks had produced the desired effect He urged upon Lochiel
to leave Argyll as soon as he possibly could, and exhorted him,
" as he valued his honour and prosperity in this life, and his
472 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
immortal happiness in the next, not to allow himself to be seduced
by the artful insinuations of subtle rebels, who never wanted
plausible pretexts to cover their treasons ; nor to be ensnared by
the hypocritical sanctity of distracted enthusiasts; and observed
that the present saints and apostles, who arrogantly assumed to
themselves a title to reform the Church, and to compel mankind
to believe their impious, wild, and indigested notions as so many
articles of faith, were either excessively ignorant or stupid,
or monstrously selfish, perverse, and wicked. Judge always
of mankind, by their actions ; there is no knowing the
heart. Religion and virtue are inseparable, and are the only
sure and infallible guides to pleasure and happiness. As they
teach us our several duties to God, to our neighbour, to ourselves,
and to our king and country, so it is impossible that a person
can be imbued with either, who is deficient in any of these indis-
pensable duties, whatever he may pretend. Remember, young
man, that you hear this from one who is to die to-morrow, for
endeavouring to perform these sacred obligations, and who can
have no interest in what he says, but a real concern for your
prosperity, happiness, and honour."
Several hours had elapsed, while he listened to the eloquent
and doomed Royalist, before Lochiel became aware that he re-
mained too long. " He took leave with tears in his eyes, and a
heart bursting with a swell of passions which he had not formerly
felt." He next visited the apartments of Colonel Nathaniel
Gordon and William Murray, brother of the Earl of Tullie-
bardine, both under sentence of death. Murray was a youth of
uncommon vigour and vivacity, and, though only in his nineteenth
year, he bore his misfortune with such a heroic spirit as greatly
impressed Lochiel, to whom the doomed youth stated that he was
not afraid to die, since he was to die for the performance of his
duty, and was assured of a happy immortality for his reward."
Next day these unfortunate men were executed in presence of
the young and generous Lochiel.
The effect of Sir Robert Spotiswood's eloquence on the
scaffold was so much dreaded by the dominant faction that his
mouth was actually stopped by the gag, while he was at the same
time tormented with the canting exhortations and rhapsodies
of the officiating bloodthirsty ministers of the Kirk.
Lochiel occupied a window, in company with Argyll and
HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS. 473
other leaders, directly opposite the scaffold, and the horrid pro-
ceedings carried out before his eyes, in the name of religion, so
impressed his young, but heroic spirit, that he gave open expres-
sion to his excessive grief; and, it is on record, that the exem-
plary fortitude and resignation of the noble sufferers drew tears
from the eyes of most of the spectators, though they had all been
prepossessed against the victims by the clergy and other fana-
tics, as accursed wretches, guilty of the most enormous crimes,
and " indicted by God himself, whose Providence had retaliated
upon themselves the mischiefs they had so often done to. His
servants." When the bloody work was over,Lochiel, who still main-
tained complete secrecy regarding his visit to the doomed men on
the previous evening, asked, " What were their crimes? for nothing
of the criminal," he remarked, "appeared in their behaviour;
they had the face and courage of gentlemen, and they died with
the meekness and resignation of men that were not conscious of
guilt. I expected to have heard an open confession of their
crimes from their own mouths ; but they were not allowed to
speak, though I am informed that the most wicked robbers and
murderers are never debarred that freedom." Argyll was much
surprised and not a little startled and amazed upon hearing such
observations from so young and inexperienced a man, and he
used all his arts and eloquence to remove the impressions which
he found had been made on the generous mind of his ward. He
justified the conduct of his own party, and painted the actions of
his opponents in the most odious colours, saying, " that the be-
haviour of the sufferers did not proceed from their innocence, but
from certain confirmed opinions and principles which were very
mischievous to the public, and had produced very fatal effects;
that the crimes of robbery, murder, theft, and the like were com-
monly committed by mean people, and were too glaring, ugly,
and odious in their nature to bear any justification, and that,
therefore, it was for the benefit of mankind that the criminals
should be allowed to recite them in public ; because the design
was not to make converts, but to strike the audience with horror;
that the Provost did wisely in not allowing the criminals to
speak, and especially Sir Robert Spotiswood, for he was a man of
very pernicious principles, a great Statesman, a subtle lawyer,
and very learned and eloquent, and, therefore, the more capable
to deduce his wicked maxims and dangerous principles in such
474 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
an artful and insinuating manner as would be apt to fix the at-
tention of the people, and to impose upon their understanding.
There is such a sympathy in human nature, and the mind is so
naturally moved by a melancholy object, that whatever horror
we may have at the crime, yet we immediately forget it, and
pity the criminal when he comes to suffer; the mind is then
so softened, that it is very apt to take such impressions as
an artful speaker is inclined to impress upon it ; the misery
of his condition is an advocate for his sincerity ; and we never
suspect being imposed upon by a person who is so soon to
die, and who can have no interest in what he endeavours to con-
vince us of; and yet experience shows us great numbers who die
in the most palpable and pernicious errors, which they are as
anxious to proprogate even at the point of death as they were
formerly when their passions were most high." His Lordship
then proceeded to open the cause of the wars, and accused the
King and the Ministers as the sole authors. He alleged that
the massacre of the Protestants in Ireland was by his Majesty's
warrant ; that all the oppressions in England, the open encroach-
ments upon the civil and ecclesiastical liberties of Scotland, and
all their other grievances, were the effect of the King's assuming
an absolute and tyrannical authority over the lives, liberties, and
properties of his subjects ; he inveighed against Montrose and
his followers, not as the abettors of slavery and tyranny, but as
common robbers, and as the public enemies of mankind. He
said that the malefactors who had been executed were guilty of
the same crimes, and that they justly suffered for murder, robbery,
sacrilege, and rebellion. In a word, he pled his cause with
such a persuasive eloquence, and with such seeming force of
argument and reason, that his discourse would have doubtless
made dangerous impressions upon the mind of his young pupil,
if it had not been wholly prepossessed by the more solid reason-
ings of Sir Robert Spotiswood. That great man had fully in-
formed him of all that was necessary to prevent his being there-
after imposed upon ; and there is such a beautiful uniformity in
truth that it seldom misses to prevail with the generous and
unprejudiced."
.Lochiel did not then think it proper to answer at any
length, or to reveal his real sentiments. All he said was that he
had been informed that Montrose was a very brave man, and
HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS. 475
that, though he had killed many in battle, he had never
heard of any who he had put to death in cold blood ; that he
wondered that so good a man as the King was said to be could
be guilty of so much wickedness ; and that he believed the charge
either to be the misrepresentations of his enemies, or that such
things were the doings of those who managed for him ;" that
he was himself perhaps too young to judge, but he thought it
hard that any man should suffer for what he believed to be true ;
and that, if the gentlemen whom he saw meeting death that day
with so much courage were guilty of no other crimes than fight-
ing for the King — whom they owned as their master — and
differing in points of religion, he thought that the laws were far
too severe.*
Lochiel was so horrified at the number of executions, the in-
justice, in his opinion, done to the King, and the aversion which
he had conceived to his Majesty's enemies, that he resolved upon
leaving Argyll, and returning to Lochaber on the first oppor-
tunity that presented itself, fully determined to join Montrose in
the cause of the King. Meanwhile, the Battle of Preston had
been fought and lost by the Royalists; Cromwell was supreme in
the South. He had been invited to Scotland by Argyll and his
adherents. Berwick and Carlisle had been delivered up to him
by their orders, and, soon after, the King himself was brought to
trial and executed. Argyll had meantime returned to Inveraray.
Some sanguinary work followed. The Marquis of Argyll and
Mr John Newry, "a bloody preacher," induced David Leslie,
who commanded the Covenanting troops, to break his word of
honour; and after disarming the country people— who surrendered
on condition that they would be granted their lives and liberty-
were mercilessly put to the sword and massacred in cold blood.
Leslie was so horrified with the barbarous slaughter of the dis-
armed and helpless people that he turned round to Newry—
who gloated over the atrocious work as only a religious fanatic
could, and who was at the time walking along with Argyll, ankle
deep in human blood— and asked him, " Now, Mess John, have
you not, for once, gotten your fill of human blood?" These
words had the effect of saving eighteen persons, who were,
however, immediately carried prisoners to Inveraray, where
they would have been allowed to die from starvation were
* Memoirs of Lochiet, pp. 76-82.
4;6 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
it not for the humane and generous action of Lochiel, who
secretly visited them once a day, and directed food to be
conveyed to them, unknown to their enemies, by his own body-
servants, or others in whom he could place implicit confidence.
All these inhuman proceedings made Lochiel still more
anxious to return home, but as Argyll still continued per-
sonally very kind and agreeable to him, he was unwilling or
afraid to intimate his wishes to him. He, however, privately
wrote to his uncle, in Lochaber, asking him to demand his return
home, for some important purpose, promising to send him back
to Inveraray whenever the Marquis should require him to do so.
On receipt of this communication from his nephew, the Tutor
convened a meeting of the leading men of the clan, and, soon
after, Argyll was addressed by the clan in a body, while his Lord-
ship was in Moidart to reduce Castletirrim, the stronghold of
Clanranald, and the last which held out for the Royal cause in
those parts of the Highlands. His Lordship, we are told, the
more easily complied with the demand of the Camerons " that he
foresaw he would quickly have business enough on his hands in
settling the State, which then changed as often as the moon."
Lochiel, soon after, in the eighteenth year of his age, returned to
Lochaber, amid the plaudits of his retainers, who received him
with great pomp, and came a day's journey to meet him. We
shall follow him thither in our next.
(To be continued.)
PROCLAMATION AGAINST ROB ROY MACGREGOR.
THE following Proclamation has been sent by a valued corre-
spondent. The original is still in good preservation, among the
Records at Inveraray. Curiously, no reference is made to it in
Millar's recently published Life of Rob Roy: —
Duu et mon Droit — BY THE KING. A PROCLAMATION for the
discovering and apprehending ROBERT CAMPBELL alias MACGREGOR,
commonly called ROB RoY,7^r the several crimes therein mentioned.
George R*
WHEREAS, We have received Information, That upon. the Eight and Twentieth day
PROCLAMATION AGAINST ROB ROY. 477
of January last, a party, consisting of an Officer and Twenty Men, marched in order
to join another party of the Tenants of the Duke of Montrose, that were following a
Parcel of Cattle, that had been stolen from one Drunkie, a Tenant to the Said Duke
of Montrose ; but it growing veiy dark the said Party were obliged to take Quarters
at Glanfallow, in that part of our United Kingdom of Great Britain called Scotland,
where they were informed, that Robert Campbel alias MacGregor, commonly called
Rob Roy, was that moment gone from thence with a Strong Party, consisting of near
Fifty Men well armed : That the said Officer placed Three Sentinels upon the House
as soon as he came there, not being able to go further that Night, and that they had
not been there above Half an Hour before they heard several shots ; Upon which
they went out and found one of the Sentinels killed ; That the said Rob Roy's party
fired several Times into the House ; but finding that to no Purpose, they followed the
Party that belonged to the Duke of Montrose, and disarmed them all ; and that the
said Rob Roy shot one of the men as he lay in his bed ; We, out of our Royal In-
clination to Justice, and to the Intent that the said Robert Campbel, alias Mac-
Gregor, commonly called Rob Roy, may be apprehended and punished for his said
Offences, in contempt of Our Royal Authority, and to the Destruction of the Lives
of Our Subjects, whereby all others may be deterr'd from committing the like
Crimes, have thought fit, by the Advice of Our Privy Council, to issue this Our
Royal Proclamation ; And We are hereby graciously pleased to promoise, That if
any Person shall discover the said Robert Campbel alias MacGregor, commonly called
Rob Roy, so as he be apprehended and brought to Justice for his said offences, such
Discoverer shall have and receive, as a Reward for such Discovery, the sum of Two
Hundred Pounds Sterling ; Whereof our Commissioners for Executing the Office of
Treasurer of Our Exchequer, are hereby required to make Payment accordingly ; and
if any Person who is a Rebel or an Accomplice with the said Rob Roy, shall make
such Discovery, as aforesaid, such Discoverer shall have and receive the said Reward
of Two Hundred Pounds Sterling, and also Our Gracious Pardon for his said
Offences. And We do hereby strictly Charge and Command all Our Justices of the
Peace, and all other Our Officers, and all other Our loving Subjects, that they do use
their utmost diligence in their several Places and Capacities, to find out, discover and
apprehend the said Offender, in Order to his being brought to Justice. And We do
hereby Command that this Our Proclamation be published in the usual Form, that
none may pretend Ignorance ; And We ordain these presents to be printed, and Our
Solicitor to dispatch Copies in the usual Manner.
Given at Our Court at St James's the loth Day of March 1719, in the ^th Year of
Our Reign.
GOD SAVE THE KING.
Printed by James Watson, One of His Majesty's Printers, 1719.
The document is endorsed as follows :— Proclamation for Discovering and Appre-
hending Robert roy Campbell alias M'Grigar. Dated loth March 1719. 27th March
1719 published at the Mercat Cross of Inveraray by John McPhun, Mesgr., before
these witnesses— James Campbell, late Provost there ; Archd. Campbell, and Charles
Stewart, Writers there, with divarse others.
NEIL MACLEOD'S GAELIC SONGS AND POEMS.-A review of this
book, just published, held over for our next issue.
478 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
THE HISTORY OF THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES.
THIS is an extremely interesting book for any reader, of whatever nationality, and
it has a special charm for Irish readers. It deals with the Scotch phase of the
crime, known in this country by the ill-omened name of "evictions," and it draws a
horrifying picture of the barbarities perpetrated in the Highlands some half century
ago. Mr Mackenzie, living in the present, as well as in the past, carries on his
thrilling narrative down to the oppressions of the Skye Crofters of to-day, and his
statement all through, from first to last, is nothing less than a ghastly record of
landlord rapacity and tenant suffering. Our readers will probably remember that
last year we despatched a Commissioner of our own to see for himself and report upon
the actual condition of the Skye Crofters, and if we needed any corroboration of Mr
Mackenzie's narrative, we have it in our own Commissioner's lucid and impartial
letters, written on the spot, out of facts as he saw and found them. A further corro-
boration is supplied by the appointment of the Royal Commission to inquire
into the Crofters' condition. Deserving of every philanthropic, humanitarian, and
anti-sham consideration is Mr Mackenzie's matter-of-fact and graphic account of the
"clearances " on the ducal estate of Sutherland some half century ago. The details
are harrowing, and they read like a description of the performances of our own native
crow-bar brigade in the famine period. The ruthless violation of rights, the oppression,
the barbarous heartlessness, the tyranny, the legalised wrong-doing, the misery, and
the wretchedness, were the same in both countries. The landlord greed was the same
in both, and the odious cant about contracts and God's mysterious dispensations were
the same also. In the two processes there was this difference, that whereas the Irish
landlord officials only levelled the houses of the tenantry, in Scotland they burned
down the houses. There was also the further repulsive difference that while in Ireland
the Catholic priests to a man sympathised with the people, and identified themselves
with the people, in Scotland the Kirk ministers went against their people, and for
selfish purposes fraternised with the exterminators. While all this wretchedness and
ruin were being forced on their tenantry, the ducal house of Sutherland was posing as
conspicuously generous and considerate, and was basking in the beams of the highest
Royal favour. Occasionally they visited or held a sort of splendid tournament at
Dunrobin Castle, when the starving tenants were compelled to subscribe for gorgeous
presentations that were offered up by the ministers and by the evictors. The descend-
ants of the men who fought at Sheriff Muir and Killecrankie, and who had their titles
from the Cameronian times, were in a day stripped of all their holdings, were refused
all compensation for improvements, and by a modern " Hell of Connaught" migration
were literaly driven into the sea. We who know from personal observation in Donegal,
and Kerry, etc., what is meant by "patches " on the cliffs, can realise to the full the
accuracy of Mr Mackenzie's descriptions of the deplorable plight of the evicted people.
The author, we are glad to sec, sustains his opinions and judgments by quotations
from such writers as Hugh Miller, Professor Blackie, General Stewart, and Rev. Dr
Kennedy. — Freeman's Journal.
479
A RUN THROUGH CANADA AND THE STATES.
BY KENNETH MACDONALD, F.S.A., Scot.
VII I.— NIAGARA— (Continued )
I COMMITTED the mistake of expecting too much. I would
not have been surprised had I heard the roar of the Falls at the
river mouth, fourteen miles away, or even in the middle of Lake
Ontario. But when, after walking down from the station to the
river, a turn brought me in front of the Horse-Shoe Fall, where,
over a breadth of nearly half-a-mile, the mighty river which
carries to the Atlantic the waters of Lakes Superior, Huron, and
Erie, poured itself over a precipice one hundred and sixty feet in
height into a basin of unknown depth below, it was the com-
parative silence of the scene that struck me, not the noise. The
thunders of Niagara must be sought, not above the Falls, but
below them. Above the banks of the river the country is com-
paratively flat, and furnishes no echoing surface to reinforce the
shock of the water. Down below the fall, however, between the
steep rocks which form the sides of the river the roar is deafening.
I did not, however, go down for a while. I looked at the Horse-
Shoe Fall, at Goat Island, and at the American Fall beyond. I
knew that the Horse-Shoe Fall, near which I stood, was higher
than a building with which I was well acquainted — the Inverness
Steeple — and yet I could not realise that it was so high. The dis-
proportion between the height and the breadth of the Fall had
something to do with this, but while I looked, a very prosaic
thought occurred to me — I would have a smoke. A square log
floated down by last spring's floods lay stranded on the river
bank, and while I sit on it enjoying the philosophic weed and
contemplating the Horse Shoe-Fall, let me explain.
This Fall extends from the Canadian shore to Goat Island.
Between Goat Island and the American shore are the American
Falls. The Horse-Shoe Fall, although a few feet less in perpen-
dicular height than the American Falls, is by far the grander sight.
The Horse-Shoe is not only about double the width of the Ameri-
can Falls, but, according to Sir Charles Lyell's estimate, while
480 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE
one-hundred and fifty million cubic feet of water passes over the
American Falls every minute, nine times that quantity passes
over the Horse-Shoe in the same time. The name " Horse-Shoe"
is derived from what was once the shape of the Fall, but through
a recession of the river, it now bears little resemblance to a
horse-shoe, the shape being more like an inverted letter A. The
volume of water passing over this Fall is estimated to be fully
twenty feet thick in the centre, and this calculation was once con-
firmed in a somewhat singular manner. In 1829, a ship named
trie " Detroit" having been condemned, was brought and sent over
the Falls. On board there were put a live bear, a deer, a buffalo,
and several smaller animals. The vessel was almost knocked to
pieces in the Rapids, but a large portion of her hull went over
entire. She drew eighteen feet of water, but she took the awful
plunge over the Fall without touching the rock.
After resting for a while at the side of the Fall, I walked up
the river towards the Clarkhill Islands, and over the twin Sus-
pension Bridges, Castor and Pollux. There is little to see in the
islands that cannot be as well seen without going there, but having
satisfied the demands of a benevolent looking gentleman, who is
licensed to lighten the purses of simple strangers, I crossed the
first bridge and went onwards through the Islands. Apart from
the view of the Rapids, the only object of interest which the
visitor to the Islands is privileged to see is the " Burning Spring."
This is merely a natural flow of imflammable hydrogen out of
a crevice in a rock below water. The gas is collected in a
cylinder, and led to the surface in an inch pipe. After showing
that the gas will burn at the end of the pipe, the obliging attend-
ant removes the pipe and applies a lighted taper to the surface
of the water in the well, which is immediately covered with the
flame of the escaping gas. Nothing wonderful in all this —
certainly nothing to see which any intelligent schoolboy
cannot substantially reproduce at home. The name "Burn-
ing Spring" is, however, a good name to conjure with.
Visitors to Niagara are prepared to be astonished, and
they do not always take time to reflect that although water
runs down hill rather rapidly there, it is not likely to become
sufficiently heated to burn readily. A vague notion, how-
ever, that the Niagara river may set its waters on fire transfers
THROUGH CANADA AND THE STATES. 481
a goodly number of dollars to the wallet of the benevolent
looking gentleman at the end of the bridge during the season.
At the Burning Spring, as at every other place about Niagara
where visitors are likely to call, there is a collection of trinkets
and books, more or less connected with the locality, which the
innocent stranger is permitted to acquire at about three times
their value. If he does not show his appreciation of the privilege
by purchasing voluntarily, he is pressed so persistently to purchase
one article after another that he is at last glad to escape at no
greater sacrifice than that of all his loose change. On my return
through the Clarkhill Islands I took advantage of the facilities
they afforded for observing the Rapids closely. Here the river
rushes down towards the Falls, over its uneven limestone bed,
with tremendous speed, the fall in the Rapids being about 80
feet in less than a mile. The water is broken into waves and
eddies as it rushes past, but before wave or eddy has time to
form itself the swift current has carried it far below the obstacle
which caused it.
Returning again to the Falls their grandeur and impressive-
ness seem to grow. The great height of the Falls is now mani-
fest, notwithstanding their breadth. At first sight the breadth
seems to dwarf the height — now the height from which the water
falls; the great body of the water itself and the dull roar with
which it tumbles into the cauldron beneath makes an impression
which can hardly be described. The impulse to go down among
the roaring waters, to see all that man can see of them and know
all that can be known, is irresistible. A winding staircase leads
down the edge of the precipice to a ledge below the Fall, but the
visitor who desires to make this journey must first be rendered
waterproof. In a short time I found myself inside of a water-
proof coat and trousers, the former tightly secured round the neck
and wrists, and the latter fastened round the ankles and over-
lapping the boot. A waterproof cap completed my outfit, and
when it was complete I felt that I ran very little risk of a wetting
if all Niagara fell on top of me. Having paid my dollar and ob-
tained a check I crossed the road — feeling, I must confess, some-
what ashamed of the figure I cut — and proceeded down the
stairway. Half-way down I met two or three gentlemen ascend-
ing, and they presented so drenched an appearance — water run-
482 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
ing from their hair, down their faces, over their waterproof suits,
and oozing from them all over — that I wondered if they had
taken a " header" into the river. I soon learned that this was not
necessary. Behind them came a guide, who turned back with
me. As we neared the bottom of the stairs, they became wet
and slippery, and I hardly needed the guide's warning to step
carefully. When the stair ended we stepped on to the ledge, and
moved along it carefully. Gradually it became narrower, and, as
we came to the narrowest part, where a bare foothold is all that
the wet and slippery limestone shelf affords, and where the
slightest slip, or even a little nervousness, might precipitate the
unfamiliar visitor on to the jagged boulders at the bottom of the
precipice, the guide, who all along went in front, grasped me firmly
by the wrist, and, again cautioning me, moved slowly onwards.
Long before we had gone far enough to satisfy me the guide
stopped — to go further was impossible. At one time the ledge
extended some distance further, but the continual wearing away of
the rock by the erosive action of the water rendering it dangerous,
it was blown up by order of the Government. What the scene
was which presented itself to the fortunate visitor of earlier years
I cannot say, but at this point of lesser vantage it was very
grand. Clinging to the wet wall of rock behind, and looking
through the thick rain-like downpour of spray which fills the
whole space between the main body of the water and the rock,
the waters of Niagara are seen to pour over the edge of the Fall
in a solid layer which curves over and out from the rock, and
reaches the pool below not only without again touching the rock
over which it falls, but at a considerable distance from its base. In
the Rapids the waters rush onwards and downwards as if hurry-
ing to their fall. At the Fall there is no hurry — all is- deliberate,
irresistible, sublime. Seen from below, the waters come over the
Fall as if the need for haste was past, and they were reaching
their rest. Here the rush of the Rapids is hushed — the waters
take their wonderful leap in silence — through the solid, crystal-
like mass the brilliant sunlight is reflected with a tinge of emerald
green, and all above is peace. But from below comes a thunder-
ing, deafening roar, constant, awful. From rock to rock the dull
reverberations of the falling water are hurled back multiplied a
thousand-fold until the whole space is filled with the thunders of
THROUGH CANADA AND THE STATES. 483
Niagara. It is here, right down in the heart of the chasm,
that the thunders of the great river are to be heard — those
who desire to hear them must seek them. Down at the
foot of the precipice are heaped up mighty fragments torn
by the resistless waters from the hard limestone rock over
which it pours — these are the chips of Niagara's workshop, and
considering the amount of work which Niagara has done, and is
doing, the number of chips is marvellously small. But like all
great rivers, one of the features of Niagara's work is the removal
of the chips. For thousands of years the river has been cutting
back through the solid rock over which it runs, with such effect
that the Niagara Falls are now seven miles nearer Lake Erie
than they were when that lake first sent its waters by the
Niagara River into Lake Ontario. Of the enormous mass of
rock removed during this process all that remains in sight is
what is now at the foot of the Falls — all the rest has been carried
in the shape of boulders, pebbles, or sand, down the river and into
Lake Ontario by the Niagara. Part of the work has no doubt been
done by ice, but the ice was Niagara's. And when, in the course
of centuries, the Falls which are now receding at the rate of some-
thing like a foot per annum, have receded beyond Goat Island,
and have left the American Fall a dry precipice, all that will
remain visible of the solid rock on which the river now runs will
be a few heaps of boulders at the foot of the Horse Shoe Fall,
which may even then retain enough of its present shape to entitle
it to retain its present name. Down there, too, among the
boulders lies the secret of the comparatively rapid recession of
the Falls. Had the river only to deal with the hard limestone
which forms the face of the whole upper part of the cliff and bed
of the river, there would be comparatively little erosion, and the
Falls, instead of being where they now are, would probably be
several miles further down the river, for the erosive action of
river water upon compact limestone is small. But down at the base
of this limestone formation there is a bed of shale, upon which the
recoiling eddies at the foot of the Fall act with an effect which
would be impossible with a more compact rock. Little by little
the action of the water removes the shale from below the lime-
stone, until the latter, losing its support, first cracks and then
tumbles down in broken masses to the foot. In this way new
484 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
rock faces arc presented to the water, and the process of destruc-
tion is ever being renewed.
All this while my guide is waiting for me. I ask him a few
questions, yelling them into his ear, but conversation is impos-
sible, and we start on the return. By this time I have realised that
it is not necessary to take a header to present such a drenched ap-
pearance as my predecessors did. So far as I can judge, I am more
moist than even they were. A good rub with a rough towel puts
me right, however, and having doffed my strange toggery, I make
for the doorway, but again the ubiquitous man with something
to sell intervenes. He sees me making for the door, and address-
ing one of his assistants — who, grateful, I believe, for a " quarter"
tip, is attempting to save my purse by landing me safely outside
— he asked whether the gentleman had been through the museum.
The gentleman had not, and didn't want to. But a refusal would
not be taken — the museum was free and very interesting, and go
I must. What was in that museum I have not the slightest idea.
I never saw anything but a devouring horde of salesmen and
women, each pressing the purchase of his or her wares. Photo-
graphs, jewellery, books, Indian work, and rubbish of all kinds
were for sale. I attempted to escape, but it was no use. At last
I offered to compromise with them — they were all the servants
of the gentlemanly spider who had induced me to walk into his
little parlour — I would select and pay for one article on con-
dition no attempt was made to get me to purchase more. This
was agreed to, and I selected some Spar trinkets, price nine
dollars, value rather less than one. While my purchase was
being packed up, nature asserted itself in one of the horde, who
thought he had got a good thing; but a threat to cancel my past
purchase for breach of contract secured me peace and escape at
no greater sacrifice than thirty-six shillings for the privilege of
not seeing a free museum, and of becoming the happy possessor
of a few trifles of little value and less use. I was by this time
getting my eye teeth cut, and, as I left the place, I felt that the
only safe course was to treat every person about Niagara as a
scoundrel until he proved he was something else. I wished to
see the whirlpool, which is about three miles lower down the
river than the Falls, and, as the day was hot and my time
limited, I resolved to make a trial of the Niagara hackmen.
K. M'D.
485
GAELIC SOCIETY OF INVERNESS
PATRIOTIC SPEECH BY MR HENRY COCKBURN MACANDREW.
THE twelfth annual gathering of the Gaelic Society took place in the New Town
Hall on Thursday evening, I2th of July. Mr H. C. Macandrew, Sheriff-Clerk of
Inverness-shire, occupied the chair, supported on the platform by Captain Chisholm
of Glassburn, Mr Malcolm Mackenzie, Guernsey ; Mr George Swann, of Burmah ;
Dean of Guild Mackenzie, Mr William Mackay, solicitor ; Dr F. M. Mackenzie, Inver-
ness ; Mr Colin Chisholm, do. ; Bailie Smith, Bailie Macbean, Bailie Melven,
Councillor Simpson, Mr Samuel Maclaren, merchant, Leith ; Mr George Miller
Sutherland, Wick ; and Councillor Charles Mackay. There was a crowded attend-
ance, many being unable to gain admission to the Hall.
Apologies for unavoidable absence were intimated from Sheriff Nicolson, the Earl
of Dunmore, Lord Archibald Campbell, Mr Fraser-Mackintosh, M.P.; Sir George
Macpherson-Grant, Bart, of Ballindalloch, M.P.; Mr Cameron of Lochiel, M.P.;
Sir Kenneth S. Mackenzie of Gairloch, Bart ; Professor Mackinnon, of the Celtic
Chair ; Cluny Macpherson of Cluny ; Mr Mackenzie, yr. of Kintail ; Mackintosh of
Mackintosh ; Mr John Mackay, Hereford ; Mr Lachlan Macdonald of Skaebost ;
Professor Blackie, Mr Mackintosh of Holme, Mr Kenneth Macdonald, Town-Clerk
of Inverness ; and others.
The Chairman, who was received with loud applause, after a few preliminary
remarks, said — On the first occasion on which I spoke at a meeting of this Society I
ventured to say that the object and the duty of societies like this ought to lie in the
direction of endeavouring to preserve the remnant of the Highland people in their
native land. (Applause.) At that time this question had not come so prominently
before the public as it has since ; but what I said then I still maintain— what I said
then is still true — that our paramount object ought to be to preserve the remnant of
the Highland population on their native soil. (Applause. ) We know that, not very long
ago, there were a great many people who thought that the best thing that could be done
for the Highlander was to transplant him from his native soil to somewhere else'. In my
opinion, great wrong and mischief were done by the carrying out of that idea. And I
say that, while we may give all possible credit for the motives of the people who, in times
past, acted in ways, the result of which we so strongly disapprove and deplore, we cannot
help expressing our opinion that wrong was done, that mischief was done— wrong and
mischief which, in great part, can never be ^repaired. (Applause. ) At the same time,
we must recognise that there is much that may yet be done for the people that now
live on the soil, and it is, therefore, our duty to consider carefully the position in
which we stand in relationship to them. Not so very long ago, it was a common opin-
ion on the part of travellers from all parts of the world, that the Highlanders of
Scotland were a barbarous race, and had always been so. Now, I think that the re-
searches that have been going on for a long time, and which are still going on, tend to
show us, and to show us very conclusively, that even our remote ancestors were not
such barbarians as they are too generally supposed to have been. We find that there
existed in remote ages, among our forefathers, a native school of art; and we all know
that many of the materials of the art of these remote ancestors would do no discredit
to the art of the present day. (Applause.) And although architecture was never the
forte of the Highlanders, still we know that there are remains in this country of things
486 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
which were undoubtedly constructed by our ancestors, which show excellent skill in
adapting the scanty means within their command to the ends in architecture which they
had in view. (Applause.) In metals we know that, even as long ago as the Roman
occupation, a system of art was developed which has expression in the fact that the
people — even these barbarians, as they were called — who fought against the Roman
soldiery, fought with weapons constructed with considerable artistic skill. So that,
considering these and many other well ascertained facts regarding our ancestors, it is
perfectly clear that we are descended from a race who, at neither a remote nor at a
comparatively recent time, could, with any sense of justice, be designated as savages
or barbarians. (Applause.) And while we hear and read a great deal from a class of
travellers, who came into the country in recent times as to the wretchedness and bar-
barity which characterised the lives of the people, still I think we find that, when the
Highland people came into contact — even into hostile contact— with the people of the
Southern country, they did not appear to be either the wretched or the savage people
they were supposed to be. There are, for instance, several remarkable occasions on
which Highlanders marched into the South country, even into England ; and while
some there are who say that in disbanded bodies they were ready to commit ravages,
yet their conduct with those in the South with whom they came in contact was such as
to be remarkably the reverse of all this. It is a trite story that, when the Highlanders
were retreating from England, after the march from Derby, they received far more
kindness and consideration from the people than did the King's soldiers, who were
pursuing them. (Applause.) But, coming to a more recent time — the time when the
ancient system of things in the Highlands was breaking up — and when a great Minister
found it to be to the advantage of this country to recruit, as soldiers, from those
wretched subjects— from those barbarians— (A laugh) — we find that the regiments then
raised — I say nothing about their bravery — had, in all the virtues of modern civilisa-
tion, attained a very high standard. (Applause.) Their conduct in the field and in
the barracks was very much higher than that of any other regiments in the service,
and all those qualities — prudence, temperance, self-denial — which go to constitute a
good man and a good soldier — which go to constitute a good soldier, because they
tend to preserve in the man the physical and the moral fibre— all these qualities, I say,
were displayed by those Highland regiments in a very remarkable degree indeed.
(Loud applause.) There is no finer example of these characteristics in any soldier in
any other country in the world — not even in that remarkable German army which in-
vaded France a few years ago. (Loud applause.) These being some of the facts
regarding the people from whom we are descended, and whose characteristics we
trace in our blood, I think I am right in saying that we ought to be possessed of the
means of preserving that race on its native soil, under the conditions with and by
which their virtues, their manliness, and the temperance and prudence which char-
acterised them grew up. (Applause.) Now, what were these conditions ? What I
said before, and I repeat now, is that the conditions which produced the virtues which
distinguished the people of the Highlands was a state of pastoral and agricultural
life, and that the Highlander appeared in that state in his true and best character.
He was master of his own house and household, he was a cultivator of the land, and
he was the owner of flocks and herds. Now, if we wish the people to remain on
their native soil, and to retain that degree of civilisation — not the highest, certainly —
but that degree of civilisation which produced the most admirable qualities in men,
that ancient state of society and land distribution to which I have referred must be
restored. The subject is now demanding the attention of the Crown, of the Legis-
GAELIC SOCIETY OF INVERNESS. 487
lature, and of the people of the country, and, while I express no opinion as to the
results which may accrue from the Royal Commission that is now pursuing its labours,
I venture to hope that these results may be such that they will aid such societies as
this in the object that ought to animate them— the object, namely, of preserving these
people in their native land. (Loud applause.) One thing has come very prominently
before us already, and that is that, among the people of the Highlands themselves, at
all events, the idea is that they require to be restored to that state to which I have
referred, under which they were masters of their houses and households, cultivators of
the soil, and masters of flocks and herds— that state which, it is conclusively proved,
was that of their ancestors, and which developed a people of the most admirable
character. (Applause.) That opinion was expressed by many long before the Com-
mission sat. It is one that has been frequently stated, and it is one which the little
experience I have had, as a business man, and as a man residing here, led me to form
long ago, and to form very strongly indeed. I expressed that before the Com-
mission sat, and I express it now more confidently than ever— that, if the people must
be what their forefathers were, there must be an entire change in the system by which
land is distributed among the people of this country. (Applause.) My own opinion
may not coincide with that of many, but I think you will all agree with me in express-
ing the hope that it may be brought about without division among classes, without
strife among contending interests — that it may be brought about by men of ancient
families, who still possess land, reverting to the policy of their forefathers, and
cherishing the people before their pockets— that is, looking to the people rather than
to the material revenue which they derive from their estates. (Applause.) The
mistake of the past has been that land and money were put before the people that
lived upon the soil. The policy of the future will be to put a man above his meat ;
and to see that the production of men will be of greater importance than the pro-
duction of food for men who live elsewhere. We hear that there are too many people
in the land, and that a great many of them are very poor. Well, the land at one
time did maintain a great many more people than it does now. Very frequently, no
doubt, there was a great want of food in the remote districts, but I have not the least
doubt, I have not the least hesitation in saying, from all that I know, and all that I
have read, that, while that may have happened, and it did happen oftener in times
past, perhaps, than in late years— I have no hesitation in saying that I feel that the
people led happier and more cheerful lives than they now do. They recognised that
man does not live by bread alone, and that there is a great deal more required for
human life than the mere clothes that one wears, or the bread that one eats. Those
who constantly cry about poverty, and the want of riches among the people,
and who urge poverty as a reason for driving the people out of the country,
remind me of a saying of Dr Johnson, who, out of his contempt for mere
money, said, when he was told of a man who had married a lady for her
riches, "Poor devil, he can only eat three meals a-day, and wear only one suit
of clothes at a time." (Laughter.) All that we can eat, or drink, or put on is a small
part of the life of man ; and I have no hesitation in saying that, with the advantages
. which our forefathers possessed, they led much happier lives than we do. The
wretchedness they endured was temporary and not general. On the whole, I think
they had much more of what went to constitute the happiness of life than we have.
What may be the reason of the change I cannot say, but there is no doubt that the
joyousness has gone out of the life of the Highland people, and societies of this kind,
with all other kindred bodies, ought to keep the cultivation of music, of sports, and
488 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
all things that lend life and joyousness to the people continually before their minds
and inclinations. (Applause.) As I have already said, if we are to keep the people,
there must be some change in the system by which land is to be distributed. It is
said there are too many people in the country, and that those that are in it are poor.
That, no doubt, is very true. But there is no man living, no sane man certainly in
any society, who will suppose, or who can expect that, in days like these, we shall
have no such thing as poverty, cr no such thing as wretchedness. But, I should like
to ask, are poverty and wretchedness confined to the Highlands ? Are poor dwellings
confined to the Highlands? (Hear, hear.) It is only lately that I read appalling
statistics regarding the people in large towns, and that I found that half the popula-
tion of Glasgow lived in one room — whole families in one room. Now, we don't see
it proposed — it has never, so far as I know, been proposed— that, because these people
are poor, and because these people live in wretched houses, they ought to be prevented
from living there, and that they should be forced to go where they don't want to go—
(Applause) — and where, probably, they might be better off. I would put no bar in
the way of emigration, but all the virtue and all the good are taken out of emigration
unless it is undertaken voluntarily, or as the result of the spirit or aspiration of the
man himself. (Applause.) My point is this — that because we have poverty in the
Highlands that is no reason why we should not have people. (Renewed applause.)
We have the highest authority for the saying that the poor we shall have always with
us, for no system will prevent the idle, the intemperate, or the improvident from de-
generating into poverty. I fear, however, that there is no sufficient inducement to
people in the condition to which I refer — the people of the Highlands — to be provi-
dent, to be saving, to be industrious. It would be wrong to blame one class of men
for this. But there can be no doubt that the great part of the population of the High-
lands has been reduced to a dead level, from which there is no outlook. If there was
a re-distribution of land to something like what was the case, as we see in the evi-
dence before the Commission, in the times of our fathers and our grandfathers — times
when there was something from the Chief lower than the Chief, and something lower
than that, and something lower still, and all actually possessing some home and some
cattle — if there was some distribution of that kind there would be something for the
people to look out for ; whereas now, the outlook is merely the possession of a croft
of the smallest dimensions with no possibility of improvement in condition, no matter
what degree of thrift or industry a man may exercise. And the great reason of this is
that there is nothing between this little croft and the great sheep run which requires
thousands and thousands of pounds to stock it. (Applause.) That is the burden of
my song. I wish that the people would remain at home, a considerable number of
hem at least, and would be happy and prosperous in their native land. And if we
cannot reform the laws, and if we cannot find any scheme of laws which might carry
out what in this respect we wish, yet we can all hope for this — we can all, by turning
our mind and energies to it, bring about at all events a state of public opinion which
will make it the pride and the honour of the men who have the power to raise on the
soil a comfortable and an independent class of small farmers. (Applause.) I say, in
conclusion, to all who have the power to make laws, to all who have the power or
money at their command, to all who have property to defend, to take to heart the
lines addressed to Cumberland —
" But you and yours may yet be glad
To Trust an honest Highland lad;
Wi' bonnet blue, and belted plaid,
He'll stan' the best o' three men."
(Loud cheers.)
GAELIC SOCIETY OF INVERNESS. 489
Dr F. M. Mackenzie followed with a Gaelic address. He said— Fhir-na-cathrach,
a bhaintighearnan, agus a dhaoin-uaisle, cha'n fhios domh ciod a chuir an cinn luchd
riaghlaidh a chomuinn m'ainmse chuir sios airson oraid Ghailig thoirt dhuibh air an
fheasgar so. Aon ni tha mi 'n dochas nach eil an Comunn tinn, agus uime sin a cuir
feum air leighiche. Cho fada sa 's leir dhomhsa tha e ami am brod slainte. Ged
nach eil am balachan dusan bliadhna dh'aois tur fathast, thae air fas naghille tapaidh?
le ruthadh na slainte na ghruaidhibh, agus a shuil gu soillear, beothal, glan. Aig an
aois sin, mar tha fios agaibh, bidh an gille beag gle dhualach air a bhi 'g 'iarraidh a
thoil fein, agus a deanamh thlre air muinntear is sine agus is glice na e fein. Math a
fheudta gu'n dean e dimeas air lighte agus bainne, agus aran coirce ; agus gum bi e am
barail gur aran cruithneachd agus cupan deth 'n ti gu mor is fearr. Is aithne dhomh
moran muinntear a tha corr us dusan bliadhna dh-aois a tha dheth 'n bharail amaideach
so. '' Ach is olc a ghaoth nach seid seol cuideigin." Tha iad sin a toirt moran oibear
do leighiche, agus mar sin tha iad nam muinntear ro-theumal 'san t-saoghal. Bidh an
gille beag dualach cuideachd air tafr a dheanamh air cainnt a mhathar — a Ghailig
bhinn cheolmhor. Mur dean e sin, gu dearbh cha'n e sin coire cuid de luchd teagaisg.
" You canna get on if you speak the Gaelic" ars iadsan. " Get on" ann, no " get on"
as, innsidh mi so dhuibh — cha chum a Ghailig air ais aon agaibh gu brath. Biodh
Beurla aig na h-uile neach gun teagamh ; ach ma bhios del fhaobhar air a chlaidheamh,
's ann gu cinnteach is mo ni e mharbhadh. So their mi — ma tha balachan am
eisdeachd a runachadh a bhi na leighiche 'san Taobh-tuath, biodh fios aige gun
cuir a Ghailig iomadh punnd Sassunach 'sa bhliadhna na sporan, mar is urrain
dhomh a dhearbhadh o m' fhiosrachadh fhein. Ni kraidh eile, agus se so e — mo
thruaigh an gille beag ma ni e tair 'us dimeas air an aois agus an ceann liath ! Cha
chreid mi ni math gu brath as a leth ma bhios e ciontach do ghiulan cho maslach.
Ann sa bhaile so, 's gann Ih, nach eil comhradh aganuri seann mhuinntear — daoine
'us mnathan a rugadh 'sa dh'araicheach 's na glinn. 'S gann tha focal Beurla na'n
ceann. So seann duine agaibh, le chiabhan liath, le aodann air preasadh, a dhruim a
bha aon uair direach mar chraobh ghiuthais a nise air cromadh gu lar. Tha sporan
aotrom, agus uime sin tha chridhe trom. Tha e gearan laigse agus di-cail. Dheor-
aich mi dheth ciod a thug na bhaile so e. Gu dearbh cha b' ann le m' dheoin, ars
esan, am baile grannda, 's bochd gu 'm faca mi riamh e. Chan f haighear ni gun an
sgillin an so, agus gu trie cha'n 'eil an sgillin ann. 'S bochd nach robh mi 's an
Achadh Bhuidhe, le mo ghearran math eich, mo dha mhart bainne, agus mo leth
cheud caora. 'Se achadh dubh a bh'ann an Ih, fhuair mis' e, le fraoch, 'us pris, 'us
conas ; ach le fallas mo ghruaidh thionndaidh mi e gu bhi na achadh buidhe. Carson
a dh'fhag sibh e? ars' mise. Thainig uachdaran ur a stigh do 'n oighreachd,
ars esan, agus cha b-fhiach leis ach frith fheidh a dheanamh deth 'n talamh;
agus, ged bu chruaidh e, b-fheudar fhagal. Cha chuirinn dragh fada orra, oir
tha mi fagus do chrich mo thurais. 'Nan robh e nam chomas, arsa mise, so
an leigheas a bheirinn dhuibh, sibh dhol air ais gus an Achadh Bhuidhe far am
faigh sibh pailteas 1m agus bainne ; agus an aite glagraich nan sraid g'an 'ur bodh-
radh, bithidh ceilearan an coin agus cronan nan sruth ri 'r cluais. Tha fios agaibh
gu'n d'ordaich a Bhan-righ choir do dhaoin' uasal urramach teachd a rannsachadh a
machaobhar gearan croitearan na Gaidhealtachd — agus is cinnteach mise gu'n coimh-
earlaich iad ceartas a dheanamh eadar duine agus duine. Tha aobhar gearan
agaibhse, a dhuine choir, bhur cuir a mach as an dachaidh a rinn sibh le bhur lamhan
fein, nar seann aois, 'nuair nach robh sibh comasach air dachaidh eile dheanamh.
Cha tachair a leithid sin tuilleadh nar tir. Tha ghrian ag eiridh air na Gael. Tha
na laithean mun do sgriobh am bard gu cinnteach air teachd dlu : —
490 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
Theid aineolas nis as an tir,
'S gach cleachdadh neo-dhireach crom,
A's mealaidh sinn sonas a's sith,
Gun fharmad no stri 'n ar fonn ;
Theid sgoilean chuir suas anns gach cearn,
Bidh leabhraichean Gkelig pailt ;
Bidh eolas a's diadhachd a fas,
Thig gach duine gu sta 's gu rath.
Nis " togaidh na Gaeil an ceann,
'S bha bhi iad am fang ni's m6 ; "
Bi'dh aca ard fhoghlum nan Gall,
A's tuigse neo mhall na choir :
Theid innleachdan 's oibribh air bonn,
Chuireas saibhreas 'n ar fonn gu pailt,
Bidh 'n dlblidh cho laidir ri sonn,
'S am bochd cha bhi lorn le airc !
This speech was well delivered, well received, and warmly applauded throughout.
The vocal and instrumental programme, as usual, embraced an excellent selec-
tion of Gaelic airs and melodies. Miss Watt contributed two songs—" The Standard
on the Braes o' Mar," and " Doun the Burn, Davie, Lad,"" both of which she rendered
in a rich tone of voice, and with fine feeling. Encores were demanded in each case,
Miss Watt replying on the first occasion with " Home, Sweet Home." Miss Hutche-
son rendered two Gaelic songs in a very tasteful and feeling manner, and was heartily
encored. Mr Paul Fraser, Mr Hugh Fraser, and Mr John Whyte also contributed
Gaelic songs with much success, being accompanied on the pianoforte by Miss
Chisholm. Pipe music, by Pipe-Major Maclennan, and Highland dancing, by Pipe-
Major D. H. Ferguson, Inverness; Mr Kenneth Macdonald, Castle Street, Inverness;
Mr Donald Munro, Millburn ; and Mr John Fraser, Highland Railway Station, In-
verness, all in full Highland costume, made up a most successful programme.
Mr William Mackay, solicitor, moved a vote of thanks to the Chairman for his
excellent address, and to the ladies and gentlemen who had contributed so much to
the evening's enjoyment, which was heartily accorded.
The Secretary, Mr William Mackenzie, as usual, did his work well, and deserves
the warm recognition of the Society for the success of his efforts in the peculiar circum-
stances attending this year's meeting.
A CELTIC DEPARTMENT IN MORNINGSIDE COLLEGE.— Celtic
matters are pressing more and more to the front. It will be seen by reference
elsewhere that the Directors of Morningside College, Edinburgh, intimate a new
department, where "Celtic students will receive special aid from the Principal," who
is himself a well-known Celtic scholar. "The Celtic languages may be taken as an
alternative subject in the modern subjects" taught in the College; and "should a
sufficient number of Gaelic students offer themselves for competition, prizes will be
offered for practical and theoretical knowledge of the language." This should make
the College specially attractive to Northern students ; and all interested in Celtic
learning should encourage a patriotic movement like this on the part of the Directors
in such a way as will ensure its complete success, and consequent imitation by others,
especially by the Royal Academy of the Highland Capital, where in its palmy days a
similar department was maintained, but for many years it has been very shortsightedly
and unpatriotically excluded from its curriculum.
THE
CELTIC MAGAZINE.
CONDUCTED BY
ALEXANDER MACKENZIE, F.S.A., Scot.
No. XCV. SEPTEMBER 1883. VOL. VIII.
CELTIC MYTHOLOGY.
BY ALEXANDER MACBAIN, M.A.
V — .CELTIC CHARACTERISTICS.
OF the physical characteristics of the Celts, except to show unity
or diversity of descent, it would be needless to speak in discussing
their Mythology ; but there are so many Irish legends bearing
upon the early ethnology of these islands, with continual reference
to small dark men, tall brown-haired and fair-haired races, that
it is necessary to at least glance at the question. The unanimity
of ancient opinion in making the Celts tall and fair-haired has
already been noticed, and in the myths the ideal of beauty is, as
a rule, what is told of the summer isles of the West, where dwelt
a divine race of the pure Celtic type, " long-faced, yellow-haired
hunters" and goddesses with hair like gold or the flower of the
broom. Another type of beauty was recognised : Peredur
or Percival of Wales, as well as the lady Deirdre of Irish
story, would have no consort unless the hair was black as the
raven's wing, the skin as white as snow, and the two' red spots in
the cheeks as red as the blood of the bird which the raven was
eating in the snow. But, " if you look at the Celtic countries,"
says the author of " Loch-Etive and the Sons of Uisnach," " that
is, countries in which Celtic was spoken in old time, or is spoken
now, you find a predominance of dark hair." There would seem,
2 I
492 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
therefore, to have been a decided change in the colour of the
hair among the Celts since the times of Caesar and Tacitus ;. but
whether this is due to mingling of races or is connected with a
higher nervous activity, for fair-haired children become dark-
haired as the nervous system becomes more active by years, is a
question which, though important for the mythologist to know
in its bearing on the migration and borrowing of myths and
manners, yet cannot be decided in the present state of knowledge.
We have still among us the remnants of the small dark people,
and, if Professor Rhys is right, the Highlands must mostly in race
be of the fair Finnish type that anteceded the Celts, with just
sufficient of the Celtic conqueror among them as to take his
language and general manners.
There is, however, a more wonderful agreement in the mental
characteristics formerly attributed to the Celts with what we now
regard as the Celtic character. Roman writers have noticed their
wonderful quickness of apprehension, their impressibility and
great craving for knowledge, qualities which have rendered the
Celt a very assimilable being in the fusion of races. They were
generous to a degree ; prompt in action, but not very capable of
sustained effort Caesar is never tired speaking of the " mobilitas"
— changeableness — of the Gauls, and also of their " celerity," both
mental and physical. Another feature noticed from the very
first, and still noticeable in the Celts, is their fondness for colour ;
" loudness," we might say, both in colour and sound, musical or
other, has been especially attractive to them. They appear in
flaming tartan dresses before the walls of Rome in 390 B.C., as we
see from both Livy and Virgil. " They wear," says Diodorus
Siculus, a writer of the 1st century, "bracelets and armlets, and
round their necks thick rings, all of gold, and costly finger rings,
and even golden corselets ; they have dyed tunics, flowered with
colours of every kind, and striped cloaks fastened with a brooch,
and divided into numerous many-coloured squares." In this
description we have the tartan, but unfortunately the kilt had
not yet made its appearance ; the Gauls and ancient Britons
actually wore tartan trousers ! Their love of ornament and colour
appears strongly in the mythic tales equally of Wales, Ireland,
and the Highlands ; indeed, so rich is the description in one
Welsh tale that at the end of it we are told that " no one knows
CELTIC MYTHOLOGY. 493
the 'Dream of Rhonabwy' without a book, neither bard nor
gifted seer ; because of the various colours that were on the
horses, and the many wondrous colours of the arms, and of the
panoply and of the precious scarfs, and of the virtue-bearing
stones."
We can trace among the Celts the same succession of politi-
cal life that we find in some of the other Aryan nations, notably
the Greeks and the Romans. The patriarchal system of Aryan
times had given place on European soil to kings, who were
merely larger editions of the patriarchs of old. They were kings
of the Homeric type ; for the Irish kings are not accurately
represented in the lives of the saints as Pharaohs surrounded with
Druids and magicians. The king consulted the chiefs beneath
him, and the people, after this consultation, were told of his
pleasure, but could only, apparently, murmur approval or dis-
approval. In the course of time, the chiefs abolished the kingly
power, and conducted matters themselves as an oligarchy, often
cruelly oppressing the common people. In Greece, the oligarchy
was overthrown by some clever man who sided with the common
people and, through them, made himself " tyrant," as they called
it. The last step was the abolition of tyranny and the setting up
of a democracy. Rome shows much the same historical sequence,
only the tyrant does not appear; the oligarchy extended some
privileges to the commons, and a sort of union was established,
which, however, in the end, failed, and gave place to an Imperial
sway. Among the Gauls we have distinct traces of all these phen-
omena, " though," as Professor Rhys says, " no Gaulish Herodotus
or Livy was found to commit them to the pages of history."
Gaul would appear to have just passed through the stage when
tyrants and oligarchs were struggling with the people ; for Caesar
found everywhere "the sulking and plotting representatives of
the fallen dynasties, and readily turned them into use, either in
bringing information about what was going on in the senates of
the peoples who had expelled their ancestors from the office of
king, or in keeping their states in subjection by appointing them
kings in the room of their fathers and under Roman protection."
No wonder then that Caesar tells us that Gaul was torn asunder
by factions. Britain had yet retained its kings, and appears to
have lost them only when the ^land was conquered by the
494 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
Romans. Ireland had its five kings even within historic times ;
and the history of Scotland during the Stuart period shows how
nearly an oligarchy came to rule this country.
The old Celtic population of both Gaul and Britain appears
to have been very prosperous. They were excellent farmers, but
their chief riches lay in their cattle ; and their food, especially in
Britain, was mostly flesh, milk, and cheese. Posidonius, in the
first century before Christ, has left us a description of a Gaulish
banquet which is important as reflecting light on the myths and
tales of later Irish times. He was delighted at the antique sim-
plicity of his entertainers, and amused at their Gallic frivolity
and readiness for fighting at meal times. " They were just like
the people in Homer's time." The guest was not asked his name
or the purpose of his journey until the feast was over. They sat
on a carpet of rushes or on the skins of animals in front of little
tables. There was plenty of meat, roast and boiled, which they
ate, after the fashion of lions, gnawing the joint, but they would
at times use their small bronze knives, kept in a separate sheath
by the side of the sword. Beer was their drink, which they
poured through their long moustaches like water through a sieve
or funnel. " The minstrels sang and the harpers played, and, as
the company drank, they bowed to the right in honour of their
god. The guests sat in three rings — nobles, shield-bearers, and
javelin-men — all in order of their precedence." If they quarrelled
about the food, they would get up and fight it to the death ; and
sometimes the guests were entertained with sword-play, and
sometimes even a man would consent to die to amuse the
rest, so careless were they of life. Their conduct and ap-
pearance in battle and in the chase is no less important for
us to notice. " We seem," says Mr Elton, " to see the Brigan-
tian soldier, with his brightly-painted shield, his pair of javelins
and his sword hilt 'as white as the whale's-bone': his matted
hair supplied the want of a helmet, and a leather jerkin
served as a cuirass. When the line of battle was formed, the
champions ran out to insult and provoke the foe ; the chiefs rode
up and down on their white chargers shining in golden breast-
plates, others drove the war chariots along the front, with soldiers
leaning out before their captain to cast their spears and hand-
stones ; the ground shook with the prancing of horses, and the
CELTIC MYTHOLOGY. 495
noise of the chariot wheels. We are recalled to scenes of old
Irish life which so strangely reproduce the world of the Greek
heroes and the war upon the plains of Troy. We see the hunters
following the cry of the hounds through the green plains and
sloping glens ; the ladies at the feast in the woods, the game
roasting on the hazel-spits, ' fish and flesh of boar and badger,'
and the great bronze cauldrons at the fireplace in the cave. The
hero, Cuchulain, passes in his chariot brandishing the heads of the
slain ; he speaks with his horses, the Gray and ' Dewy- Red/ like
Achilles on the banks of Scamander. The horses, in Homeric
fashion, weep tears of blood and fight by their master's side ; his
sword shines redly in his hand, the ' light of valour' hovers round
him, and a goddess takes an earthly form to be near him and to
help him in the fray."
THE GAULISH RELIGION.
The religion of the Gauls is the only Celtic religion of which
we have any description, such as it is, left. Now, we should be
justified in assuming that the Gaulish religion is fairly representa-
tive of what the old religion of the British and Irish Celts was,
even though we had not Tacitus' direct testimony to this being
the case. The descriptions we have of the Gaulish religion are
sufficiently meagre. Three chapters of Caesar, a few lines from
Diodorus, Mela, and Strabo, some scattered allusions in Pliny,
five lines from Lucan, and a statement from the Greek Tima-
genes reproduced in Ammianus Marcellinus, are practically all
our authorities. The statues and inscriptions preserved to our
time are almost our only authority for the names of the deities;
while the calendar of the Church saints, local festivities and tradi-
tions, render some little help in this and also in matters of ritual.
Caesar's sketch of the Gaulish pantheon, though meagre, is
yet the best. We owe it entirely to the fact that for practical
purposes the Gaulish religion was much the same as the Roman,
with the exception of Druidism, which he doubtless saw would be
a source of danger, unless it could be assimilated to Roman ideas
and practices. We are, therefore, prepared, from our knowledge
of the Aryan descent of the Celts, to believe what Caesar says
when he writes that the ideas of the Gauls with regard to the
gods were much the same as those of other nations, meaning
496 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
especially Romans and Greeks. He tells us that the god most
worshipped was Mercury ; that is to say, the Gaulish god was
not named Mercury, but corresponded in his attributes to that
Roman deity. Caesar, unfortunately, does not record the native
names for these deities. They regarded Mercury as the in-
ventor of arts, presiding over trade and commerce, and means of
communication between people. After him came the deities
answering to the Roman Apollo, Mars, Jupiter, and Minerva ;
Apollo drove away diseases, Minerva taught the useful arts of
life, Jupiter held the sway of Heaven, and Mars r\iled the depart-
ment of war. To Mars they would vow what they should capture
in war, and when they conquered they would sacrifice the cattle,
and heap up the other wealth in mounds, in consecrated places,
and no one would dare touch or steal these treasures, both from
fear of the gods and from the extreme cruelty of the punishment
that would follow detection. Caesar also notices a feature of
Celtic character which is still persistent in the race. The nation,
he says, is very much given to religious matters. And on this
account, he proceeds, those who are affected with diseases of a
rather serious character, and those who are in great dangers, either
sacrifice human beings, or make a vow to that effect ; and at
these sacrifices they employ the Druids. They think, he says,
that the Deity cannot be appeased unless human life is given up
for human life, and they have even national sacrifices of this kind.
They make huge images of wickervvork, inside which they place
human beings alive ; and this they set on fire, and the victims perish.
Generally the victims are criminals, but if criminals are wanting,
they have recourse to innocent persons. These human sacrifices
seem horrible to our modern minds, and to the Romans,
though familiar with the idea of human sacrifice, for in the time
of the Second Punic war, they, themselves, resorted in their re-
ligious terror to the sacrificing of a male and female Gaul, and it
was not until the 1st century before Christ that the Senate for-
mally forbade such sacrifices even in Rome — to the Romans even
the Gauls appeared reckless in their massacres, such occurring,
too, when there did not appear to be any special danger. Strabo
says that it was a tenet of the Druids that the harvest would be
rich in proportion to the richness of the harvest of death.
Another article of the Gaulish creed is given by Caesar.
The Gauls, he says, assert that they are all sprung from Pluto
CELTIC MYTHOLOGY. 497
(the god of the lower world), for so the Druids teach. Hence,
therefore, they reckon by nights instead of days. In regard to
the belief which Caesar records, it is probably only a mythical
way of recording a belief common to most nations in their bar-
barous state, that they are the aboriginal inhabitants and sprung
from the soil on which they dwell. As to the Gauls reckoning
by nights instead of days, Caesar is scarcely right in tracing it to
the belief that they are sprung from Pluto ; the Greeks originally
thus counted their time, and the Germans also computed their time
the same way, just as we still speak of fortnights and "sennights,"
while the Welsh word for week, wytknosy means " eight-nights."
The mythical meaning of the custom is quite clear ; the night
was supposed to give birth to the day and the sun ; for Chaos is
before Kosmos, Night before Day, in mythology. Hence the
night is before the day in the order of time. This fact is em-
bodied in the well-known Gaelic expression, " Thig an oidhche
roimh 'n latha," which applies to all the festivals of the calendar,
with the exception of that referred to in the other phrase, " An
Inid bheadaidh, thig an latha roimh 'n oidhche."
We have thus seen from Caesar that in the Gaulish religion
a Pluto reigned in darkness, and a Jupiter in heaven ; that Mars
was the lord of war ; that Apollo, Mercury, and Minerva brought
precious gifts to mankind. The poet Lucan has preserved to us,
though in an obscure fashion, the names of three Gaulish gods in
the celebrated lines—
" Et quibus immitis placatur sanguine diro
* > . ' Teutates horrensque feris altaribus Esus,
Et Taranis Scythicae non mitior Dianae."
We have here the grim Teutates, Esus with fearful sacrifices, and
Taranis, whose altars were no less cruel than those of Scythian
Diana. Of Esus but little can be said ; no trace of him exists
outside Gaul, where statues and, at least, one inscription bearing
his name have been found. Teutates, likely from the same root as
the Gaelic tuatJi, people, has been identified with various deities ;
probably he was the war-god, defender of the people, at whose
altars captives poured forth their blood. It does not appear that
his name was used on British soil ; Mr Elton thinks that his
place in this country was filled by " Camulus," a word which ap-
pears on British coins in connection with warlike emblems, and
is used as a compound in the names of several military stations
498 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
of the Roman period. Taranis was the Northern Jupiter, wor-
shipped by the Britons, also, under epithets derived from the
words for thunder and rain. He answers to the Norse god Thor,
the head of the " meteorological" gods, who regulate the weather
and the seasons — "who can withhold the rain and the dew, or
blacken the heavens with clouds and wind, or drive in the temp-
est with chariot and horses of fire." The Irish Dinn-Senchus
mentions this " thunder" god as " Etirun, an idol of the Britons."
Two other names of deities are preserved to us in the classical
writers. Lucian speaks of a sort of Gaulish Hercules, represented
as an old man drawing a large multitude after him by cords fas-
tened to their ears and his tongue, and he was their god of letters
and eloquence, and they called him Ogmios. This name appears
afterwards as that of the Irish sacred or runic alphabet, so named
from its inventor, Ogma, the son of Elathan, evidently a degraded
deity. Again, one or two other writers mention the god Belenus,
a name common in inscriptions and in proper names of persons.
The inscriptions also give, according to the Gallo-Romanic habit,
the Latin God as well, with whom he was identified : we have such
a combination often as Belenus Apollo, thus making him the
equivalent to the Roman sun and healing-god. This Belenus is
the famous deity of the Druids according to the school of Neo-
Druidists, the investigators into the system of the Druids, lately
rampant among us. As a rule, Belenus, or rather Bel, as he was
called by them, was identified with the Phenician Baal, and no
end of theories were started on such suppositions. The word
Belenus may, however, be from the same root as Apollo, and
probably is from that root, as Mr Moberly has pointed out in his
notes to Caesar. That his worship was connected with solar
rites is evident from the manner in which Ausonius describes his
temple at Bayeux ; but he was also especially connected with
health-giving waters and herbs, and was worshipped at medicinal
resorts under various local titles, the most important of which are
Borvo (Bourbon) and Grannus. The latter title is doubtless
connected with the Gaelic grian, sun, and it is interesting to note
that an altar was once found at Inveresk with the inscription,
" Apollini Granno," which clearly shows the worship of this sun-
god in ancient Scotland. It is probably in connection with the
service of Belenus that the cutting of the mistletoe took place, as
related by Pliny. The passage is given either in full or in
CELTIC MYTHOLOGY. 499
abstract in almost all our school books of history, and it is there
wrongly given out as a " Druidic " rite. It is merely a case of
herb worship, common to all nations. The mistletoe is far more
famous in Teutonic Mythology, and the gallant rites at modern
Christmases are merely a remembrance of its ancient efficacy as
a preserver and defender from harm. Pliny tells us that on the
sixth day of the moon, the commencement of the Gaulish month,
a Druid or priest, clothed in white, mounted the tree and cut the
plant with a golden sickle. It was received on a white cloth, and
two white bulls were sacrificed, while the people burst forth in
prayer for the favour of the god. The mistletoe was supposed
thus to be a cure for sterility, and a safeguard against poisons.
This is just merely a form of fetishism.
The Gaulish inscriptions give us quite a host of minor deities.
The Roman system of assimilating conquered peoples appears
extremely well in these inscriptions; in nearly every case the
Roman deity is given as the principal name to which is attached
as epithet the local Gaulish equivalent. We, therefore, meet with
combinations like these: "Marti Segomoni," "Marti Caturigi,"
" Mercurio Artaio," " lovi Bagniati," " Apollini Virotuti," etc.
The Gaulish and British goddess, Belisama, is the most important
to notice; she answered to the Latin Minerva, goddess of arts,
who, along with " Mercury," was the most human of all the deities
of Gaul. The goddesses of the healing springs were honoured as
the companions of Apollo. "Divine beings everywhere mediated
between man and heaven." Fountains, rivers, and hills had their
deities, and the sea-nymph of the Breton shore is still revered
under the title of St Anne. Every village was protected by local
deities, with the generic title of " Matris" or " Mothers," names
which appear in great numbers on the inscriptions, and which
survive, we are told, in mediaeval legends as the White Ladies,
the " Three Fairies," the Weird Sisters, and the Wild Women of
the Woods. Some, again, of the lesser deities appear as the
giants of our folk-tales. Such has been the fate of "Gargantua,"
an old Gaulish deity of Normandy, whose festivals are not un-
known yet, and whose fame appears on the pages of Rabelais.
There were also innumerable private or family gods, answering
to the Roman Penates and Lares, of whom inscriptions and
statues testify.
(To be continued.)
500 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
LORD PRESIDENT FORBES OF CULLODEN.
Thee Forbes too, whom every worth attends,
As truth sincere, as weeping friendship kind ;
Thee truly generous and in silence great,
Thy country feels through her reviving arts,
Plann'd by thy wisdom, by thy soul inform'd,
And seldom has she known a friend like thee.
— THOMSON.
THERE are few men to whom the country is more indebted than
to Duncan Forbes, and there are few men who have received less
honour for their deeds. He had always the best interests of the
country at heart, but it is an old and a true proverb which says,
that " a prophet hath no honour in his own country." A short
sketch of his life, however, will, we think, fully substantiate his
claim to the good opinion of all thinking Scotchmen, and, at the
same time, prove not a little interesting.
He was born on loth February 1685, at Bunchrew, or, as
some say, at Culloden. His father, after whom he was named,
was a Member of the Scottish Parliament for Nairnshire, and his
mother was Mary Innes, a daughter of the laird of that ilk, a
Morayshire baronet. Duncan was the second son, his elder
brother, John, succeeding to the estates. The two boys received
their first education in Inverness, where Duncan far excelled his
brother, especially in Latin. In 1704, he entered the University
of Edinburgh, where he devoted himself with remarkable assi-
duity to the study of Scottish Law, Civil and Criminal, under
John Spottiswood. About this time his father died, and John
took possession of the patrimony. Even at this early period of
his life — he was scarcely out of his teens — Duncan gave evidence
of that nobility of character which was his chief characteristic in
after-life, and which often prompted him to take the side of the
weak or oppressed, without calculating the consequences to him-
self. One instance of this quality may be laid before the reader.
During his attendance at the University, an English ship, com-
manded by a Captain Green, was driven into Leith harbour by a
violent storm. There was considerable excitement in Leith and
Edinburgh at the time about a rumour which had got abroad, to
the effect that certain Scottish vessels had been attacked and
LORD PRESIDENT FORBES. 501
plundered, and their captains and crews murdered with shocking
attendant circumstances, on the high seas, by the crew of an Eng-
lish pirate. Some mischief-maker noised it abroad that Captain
Green was the supposed sea-robber, and, on the strength of this
supposition, the unfortunate man and his whole crew were appre-
hended and lodged in the Tolbooth. Some of his sailors, in peril
of their lives, swore to having been engaged in the alleged piracy,
and Captain Green and three of his officers were, on the evidence
of these wretches, condemned to death.
^>ung Forbes had all through evinced a deep interest in the
fate of the prisoners and was seized with the utmost indignation
when he heard their doom pronounced by the ghastly and gro-
tesque individual who held the much-detested office of " Doom-
ster." When the fatal day came round upon which these innocent
men were to be launched into eternity, Forbes attended them to
the scaffold, at the imminent peril of his life from an insatiate
and blood-thirsty mob — only to be equalled by the Porteous one,
many years after — and he it was that carried Captain Green's
head to the grave. It was a noble act, and one that, like charity,
should have washed away a multitude of sins. The event proved
that his compassion was well deserved, for, to the eternal infamy
of the miserable perjurers who had sworn away these three lives,
the vessel and crew upon whom the piracy was said to have been
committed arrived safely in port
Shortly after this tragic affair, Duncan went to the University
of Leyden, where he remained for about two years. About the
end of 1707 he returned to Scotland, a proficient in Latin, Hebrew,
and several other languages, and, in the following year, he married
Mary, daughter of Hugh Rose, I2th Baron of Kilravock. This
lady was very beautiful and highly gifted, but, unfortunately, soon
after the birth of a son, who was baptized John, she was carried
away by a severe illness.
In 1709, Duncan was admitted a Fellow of the Scottish
Faculty of Advocates, and in this favourable sphere for his great
talents, he soon became distinguished for surpassing eloquence
and quick perception. Soon after, through the influence of the
Duke of Argyll, he was appointed Sheriff of Midlothian. He
was particularly favoured by this peer, and, in the noble Lord's
absence, acted as a sort of factor on his estates, for which service
502 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
he always refused any fee, alleging that he did it out of friendship
for his benefactor.
In 1715, the Rising under the Earl of Mar took place, and
Duncan and his elder brother, the Laird of Culloden, rendered
great service to the Government in the North. They stood a siege
in Culloden House, and ultimately beat off the besiegers ; and,
not content with this, marched to Inverness, which was in the
hands of the Jacobites, at the head of the Clans Grant and Eraser,
and forced it to surrender. On the final collapse of the Earl of
Mar's attempt, Duncan Forbes was appointed Advocate-Depute,
which office he entered upon with the greatest reluctance, as he
was of opinion that the trying of the Jacobite prisoners in England
was against the law, and he was only persuaded to take office by
the earnest entreaties of the Earl of Islay, afterwards Duke of
Argyll. Whilst holding this office he exhibited another instance
of his generosity by collecting and subscribing money to aid in
the defence of the Scotsmen who were lying in prison, awaiting
their trial for participation in the Rising. He also urged the
Government several times to deal mildly with the political pri-
soners, but with no effect. In 1717, he was appointed Solicitor-
General for Scotland, and he took a great share in the work of
bringing in and conducting appeals from the Court of Session to
the House of Lords. In 1722, he tried to get into Parliament,
and contested the Inverness Burghs with Mr Alexander Gordon
of Ardoch, but he was at first unsuccessful. Undaunted, how-
ever, by this rebuff, Mr Forbes presented a petition to the House
of Commons, and his opponent's election was declared void, Mr
Forbes taking his place.
In 1725 the then Lord Advocate, Lord Dundas, resigned
his office, and Mr Forbes stepped into it, holding it for twelve
years. In June of the same year a new and very much disliked
tax, amounting to sixpence per bushel, was imposed upon
malt, and this tax caused great dissatisfaction among brewers
and others, who strongly protested against its introduction,
more especially the Glasgow brewers. The Act empower-
ing the tax came into force on the 23rd of June, and on
the following day the lower classes in Glasgow were in a very
excited state. The train was laid, and it only required the tiniest
spark to make it burst into a flame. So riotous became the
LORD PRESIDENT FORBES. 503
Glasgow crowd towards nightfall, that a body of soldiers were
drafted into the town to protect life and property, in case of
a serious outbreak occurring. That night the rabble proceeded
to the residence of Mr Campbell of Shawfield, M.P. for the
Burgh, who had all along supported the obnoxious measure, and
totally destroyed his house. Next day the rioters marched to
the Town House, about which the soldiers were formed in square,
under the command of one Captain Bushell. The mob began
hostilities by throwing decomposed fish, eggs, and other savoury
missiles at the soldiers, but the Provost refused to give the troops
orders to fire upon the crowd. At last the officer's patience, for
some time at a very low ebb, went down altogether, and he
ordered his men to fire. The soldiers did so at once, killing eight
of the mob outright, and wounding many more. The survivors,
exasperated beyond measure, rushed away to an armoury, re-
turned with a formidable array of offensive and defensive weapons,
and were about to fall upon the military, when the latter fled to
Dumbarton. The report of this riot coming to the ears of Mr
Forbes, the new Lord Advocate, he marched to Glasgow with a
large body of troops, and arrested the Provost, three Bailies, Dean
of Guild, and Deacon Convene/ of the City, on suspicion of tak-
ing part with the rioters. These gentlemen were taken to Edin-
burgh and imprisoned in the Tolbooth, but, owing to the harsh-
ness of the action, and the idea that the prisoners were martyrs
to the common cause, they had the undivided sympathy of the
whole community, and, an objection being raised as to the legality
of their committal, they were soon liberated. The brewers of
Edinburgh then declined to brew any more ale until the tax
were abolished. Here was a pretty state of matters ! What
would become of the City if the supply of tuppenny ran
short ? The sagacious, though, perhaps, over-zealous Forbes
was equal to the occasion, and carried an Act through both
Houses, which ordained that if the brewers persisted in striking
work in this fashion, they must go to prison ! The courageous
brewers were not to be beat ; they would go to prison in a body,
and be martyrs in the noble cause of supplying cheap beer to the
people. Hearing this, the Lord Advocate proposed that they
should be indicted for conspiracy, and this last blow so completely
dissolved the courage of the poor brewers, that they gave in, and
504 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
Forbes came out of the fight triumphant, receiving great com-
mendation from the Government for his prompt action.
In 1734, his brother John died without issue, and he entered
into possession of the estates. Two years afterwards the Por-
teous Riot broke out in Edinburgh, when he opposed with all his
might the futile attempt of the Government to punish the Cor-
poration of the City by depriving it of its privileges. In June
1737, he succeeded Sir Hugh Dalrymple as Lord-President of
the Court of Session, in which position he displayed great justice
and impartiality. He often turned his mind to the unsettled
state of the Highlands. In 1738 he proposed to raise a few re-
giments of Highlanders, and send them abroad into active ser-
vice, in order to shake their loyalty to the Stuart cause. Sir
Robert Walpole highly commended this -plan of the Lord-
President's, but it was finally rejected to please the King, who put
more trust in long-moustachioed and long-booted Germans than
red-bearded and short-kilted Highlanders. When the Stuart
Rising broke out in 1745, the Lord-President exerted his utmost
endeavours to prevent the dissaffection spreading, and succeeded
in securing the loyalty of Sir Alexander Macdonald and the
Laird of Macleod. He expended the greater part of his mode-
rate fortune in the service of his thankless monarch ; but it is a
fact, and a very disgraceful one, that he never received a single
farthing of it back from the Government, although he had their
written promise that they would pay all the expenses he might
incur on their behalf. But the motto of the Government of that
day appears to have been —
"What we do determine, oft we break."
and, no doubt, the promise was made without the slightest inten-
tion of its being kept.
After the Battle of Culloden, the kind heart of the Lord-
1 President was sadly hurt at the fearful barbarities practised upon
the Highlanders by the English soldiery, and he ventured to ad-
dress the " Royal Butcher" himself upon the subject, hinting that
even the army of a Duke of Cumberland ought to pay some de-
ference to the laws of God and man. The answer he received was
characteristic of the brute that gave it: — " The laws of the coun-
try, my Lord! I'll make a brigade give laws, by God!" The
ingratitude of the Government and his own inability to mitigate
NEW FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 505
the sufferings of the poor Highlanders shortened the Lord-Presi-
dent's life, and, on the loth of December 1747, little more than a
year after the decisive Battle of Culloden, this good man died at
the comparatively early age of sixty-two years.
Of his character we need say but little. He was learned,
eloquent, honest, liberal, and though he was, perhaps, sometimes
rather apt to be harsh, yet it may be said, in the words of Shake-
speare—
" His life was gentle, and the elements
So mixed in him that Nature might stand up
And say to all the world, This was a man"
His literary works were principally upon religious subjects,
but he collected a great quantity of curious correspondence and
other documents, which were published after his death, under the
name of the " Culloden Papers." H. R. M.
THE NEW FRENCH AMBASSADOR TO GREAT BRITAIN
TO THE EDITOR OF THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
SIR, — It may interest some of the numerous readers of your excellent and inter-
esting magazine, to learn that the newly-appointed French Ambassador to Great
Britain — M. Waddington — is closely connected with one of the clans of the North.
His mother was a Chisholm ! and her father would have been chief of the Clan
Chisholm had not the two sons of " Lady Ramsay" sutceeded to the Chisholm estates
and title.
In order to show clearly that the new Ambassador is, at least, half a Chisholm,
it is necessary to look back to the time of the '45, when Roderick, the chief of the
clan, reigned or ruled in Strathglass. He was the fourteenth chief from Sir John de
Chisholm (the first chief of the Chisholms of the North), who married Anne, daughter
and heiress of Sir Robert Lau-ler of Quarrelwood, constable of Urquhart Castle, A.D.
1334.
This Roderick (who was " An Siosalach," i.e., emphatically " The Chisholm."
as the chief of the Chisholms of Strathglass) was married to Elizabeth, daughter of
Macdonell of Glengarry.
He had five sons, viz. :— Alexander, James, John, William, and Roderick.
Alexander succeeded to the estates and title, and married a daughter of Mackenzie of
Applecross. James and John became Captains in the 7 1st Regiment, and fought for
King George.
Roderick, the youngest, was a Colonel in the army of Prince Charles, and was
killed at the Battle of Culloden, at the head of the Chisholms of Strathglass.
William, the fourth son (great-grandfather of M. Waddington), was a physician
and Provost of Inverness. He was married twice. His first wife was daughter of
506 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
Mackintosh of Kyllachy ; and his second was Miss Baillie of Dochfour. By the first
wife he had one son and three daughters. His son was educated for the medical pro-
fession, and practised at Clifton. He married, and had one son and three daughters.
One of these daughters married a Mr Waddington, and she became the mother of our
present French Ambassador, who, also, was at one time head of a French Ministry,
and Minister of Foreign Affairs. M. Waddington was educated in England, and his
present appointment is calculated to give every satisfaction to North and South
Britons, and be especially popular in the Highlands.
I believe I am correct in stating that, a few years ago, M. Waddington was on a
tour in the Highlands, and paid a visit to his connections or relatives, the Mackin-
toshes of Balnespick.
I should, perhaps, mention that a daughter of William Chisholm (Provost), by
his second wife, Miss Baillie of Dochfour, married Mackintosh of Balnespick, and, I
believe, she was the mother of the present proprietor. An estimable and highly-con-
nected lady, now residing near Nairn (mother of the martial and gallant Lord-
Lieutenant of that county), is, I am credibly informed, intimately acquainted with
Madame Waddington, and with one of her sisters. The Baillies and Waddingtons
have come to know each other through the Mackintoshes of Balnespick, who are
related to both.
In continuation of the above — re the French Ambassador — perhaps, it will not
be out of place to add the following, which I quote from a paper, now before me,
which shows that the last Ambassador from the King and Queen of Scotland to Rome
was a Chisholm ! viz. : — William Chisholm, the last Catholic Bishop of the ancient
Hierarchy of Scotland, who, on the death of his uncle, Bishop Chisholm, became
Bishop of Dunblane, but, in a short time, was compelled, by the sacrilegious revo-
lution, to leave Scotland. He was a good theologian, and able to preach fluently in
the French language.
He was not long in Rome when Cardinal St Charles Borromeo, then Arch-priest
of St Mary Major, made him his vicar in that Basilica ; and the name of William
Chisholm appears in the Records of the Chapter as quoted by Paul De Angelis in his
description of St Mary's. On the ides of November 1570, Pius IV. created him Bishop
of Vaison, near Avignon. For 16 years Bishop Chisholm discharged the duties of his
See with much profit to the Diocese, and then resigned it into the hands of Pope Pius
V., who gave it to his nephew, another William Chisholm. The ex-Bishop then (in
1586) retired into the Carthusian Hermitage of Grenoble, became a novice, and per-
formed all the exercises of the regular observance with zeal and humility. After some
years, he was sent as Rector to the Carthusian House of the Holy Spirit, in the city
of Lyons. Pope Clement VIII. intended to send Bishop Chisholm as his Legate to
James, King of Scotland, whom he (Bishop Chisholm) had baptized ! but this plan
was not carried out. Bishop Chisholm became Prior of the Certosa, at Rome. Fn
this post he died on the 26th September, 1593, leaving behind him a great reputation
for sanctity and learning. After his death it was discovered that he wore an iron
shirt of mail next his skin, which must have caused him constant suffering.
Apologising for the length of this letter, — I am, sir, yours faithfully,
A. M. CHISHOLM (late Captain, Black Watch).
Glassburn, Strathglass, 23rd July 1883.
[The above interesting communication reached us too late for the August issue.]
507
"SIN CNAIMH IS CNAIM E."
THIS is an old Gaelic proverb which may be translated thus —
" That is a bone for you to pick." This proverb, like most others,
has a history. It originated in a woman's revenge administered
most effectually. She had married that happily rare individual—
a selfish man — and she seems to have borne her fate through the
years without murmuring. It had been her husband's daily habit
to help himself to all the meat on the dinner table, whilst he
placed an occasional bone on her plate, saying in the words that
have become proverbial, " Sin cnaimh is cnaim e." She took
her daily bone quietly, possessed her soul in patience, but under
a calm exterior she hid a deeply rankling sense of wrong, whether
from being denied her due portion of the food, or from the effects
that her hidden sense of injury had upon her, I know not, but at
length she lay upon her death-bed after becoming the mother of
six children. She knew that she was dying, and she determined
then to have her pound of flesh and leave a bone to pick for her hus-
band. Calling him to her bedside, she told him gravely that she
had something of great importance to tell him, whilst yet she could
speak. He asked anxiously what it was, when she told him that
one of the children did not belong to him. " Which of them? which
of them?" he cried wildly ; and in broken accents she whispered,
" Sin cnaimh is cnaim e." She never spoke again although he was
urging her to speak when she was breathing her last. She verily
left him a bone to pick, and he sat from day to day gazing critically
at the children, one and all. He could not ill-use any of them, not
knowing which of them was not really his. Donald had his own
eyes and red hair, Morag had his sister's very face, and Ewen
had the family formation of teeth, and jaws, as well as of hands
and feet. He thus found traces of his own race in each, and he
knew not whom to turn out of his home. The neighbours be-
lieved that all the children were his, and this impression has been
handed down traditionally to the present day ; but there was great
satisfaction among all in the terrible punishment that fell upon
this selfish man ; for the bone given him to pick, by his dying wife
set his teeth on edge, and filled him with unrest through all the
years of his after life. MARY M ACKELLAR.
1 2 K
508 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
THE HIGHLAND DRESS.
BY J. G. MACKAY.
VI. AND LAST. — HIGHLAND ARMS — FIRE-ARMS.
Ho-r6 mo chuid chuideachd thu,
Gur muladach learn uam thu,
Ho-r6 mo chuid chuideachd thu
'S mi 'direadh bheann 'us uchdanan
B'ait learn thu 'bhi cuide rium,
'S do chudthrom air mo ghualainn.
SINCE the invention of fire-arms they were very common
among the Highlanders, who displayed great expertness in using
them. Martin, as already quoted, says, " they are early accus-
tomed to use them, and carry their pieces with them wherever
they go."
The old Highland musket was very long and was frequently
beautifully ornamented with devices of birds and animals — many
of them are supposed to have been of Spanish manufacture ;
some were certainly brought to the country during the rising of
1715 by the unfortunate Spanish expedition, which terminated
so fatally in Glenshiel. Large quantities of arms were also im-
ported from France and Germany during the Jacobite times, but
it is most probable that muskets were manufactured among
themselves, as they were to be found in abundance among the
non-Jacobite clans as well. In the manufacture of PISTOLS,
however, the Highlanders excelled, and their weapons were highly
prized even on the Continent. They were made wholly of metal,
and were of a peculiar and beautiful manufacture, being richly
engraved and ornamented with heraldic and other devices.
Doune, in Perthshire, was for a long time famous for the
manufacture of these weapons. They were at one time con-
sidered a necessary adjunct to the Highland dress, but now are
seldom to be met with. They were worn on the left side, one on
the waist and the other on the shoulder belt.
A real Doune pistol is now only to be met with in anti-
quarian collections, and is valued at a very high figure.
The Highlanders at all times considered fire-arms unfair and
THE HIGHLAND DRESS. 509
unmanly instruments of warfare. At one time they were said to
hold cannon in great dread, but this feeling, if it ever existed,
very soon wore away, as at the '45 they were known to march
fearlessly up to the cannon's mouth. The claymore was, in their
opinion, the weapon with which a warrior could display his skill
and dexterity, and give a good account of himself ; while, on the
other hand, the musket was equally deadly in the hands of an
insignificant individual.
The " Lament for the Four Johns of Scotland " (Ceithir
lainean na h-Alba) gives us a very good illustration of this. A
few verses of it run thus : —
'S ann a Ceanntaile dh-fhalbh na suinn,
Cha robh an aicheadh fo bhrataich Fhinn,
Na fir bha daicheil 's iad sgaiteach laidir,
Gur e mu chradh-lot mar tharladh dhaibh.
• An latha 'dhirich sinn ris an aird,
Bha fearg a's fraochan air fir mo ghraidh,
A's claidheamh dubailte 'n crios gach diunnlaich,
A's Spainntich dhu-ghorm an glaic 'ar laimh.
Ach a dhaoine nach cruaidh an cas,
Uilleam cliuiteach a dhol 'n an dail ;
Bha fhuil le ghruaidhean le siubhal luaidhe,
'S bu chulaidh-uamhais 'n uair bhuail e 'ghraisg.
Mur b'e luaithead 's a rinn iad olc,
'S gu'n d' rinn a luaidhe gu cruaidh do lot,
Bhiodh claignean ciurrt' aig luchd bhriogsan duinte
Le lannaibh dhu-ghorm bu mhath 's an trod.
From their mode of life the ancient Highlanders had every
opportunity of practising the use of their arms. Whether in the
glens herding their cattle, or on the hill hunting the deer, they
were always fully equipped. The author of " Certayne Matters"
already quoted, says, " that perhaps no nation goes about better
armed, and I assure you they know how to use them with
dexterity." Being at all times subject to marauding expeditions
from neighbouring clans with whom they might be at feud, they
practised the use of their weapons as much from necessity as for
pastime. It was counted a disgrace to appear in the presence of
an enemy unarmed. There is a tradition that when the famous
Rob Roy Macgregor was on his death-bed, he was visited by a
MacLaren, with whom he was at one time at enmity. When the
5io THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
aged warrior heard who his visitor was, " Raise me from my
bed," said he, " throw my plaid about me, and bring me my clay-
more, dirk, and pistols ; it shall never be said that a foeman saw
Rob Roy Macgregor defenceless and unarmed."
The Highlanders were very partial to all kinds of manly
exercises and games. Whole districts turned out at stated periods
to compete at the different feats, which were contested with great
spirit. Sunday was frequently the great day for these fetes. The
whole male population of a parish would gather in a field adjoin-
ing the kirkyard, and engage in exercises hardly of a devotional
character. The minister had frequently to join in the games on
week days, in order to coax the people to go to the church on Sun-
day. It is related of the Rev. Lachlan Mackenzie of Lochcarron,
that he had on one occasion to join in the games on the Sabbath,
in order to lure the people with him, and having beaten the cham-
pion, he ever afterwards got a large congregation of eager and atten-
tive listeners. These were the days of "muscular Christianity." It
was quite common for the minister to go to the pulpit armed with
a good stout cudgel, in order to punish any refractory worshipper.
Many stories might be told of these "good old days" before
the Reformation brought about such a change in the reverence of
the people for the Day of Rest.
The games popular among the Highlanders were : — Putting
the stone, lifting a heavy weight known as " Clack neart" 'tossing
the caber, wrestling, running, leaping, swimming, shooting, shinty,
football, etc. Besides these matches, there were periodical
weaponshaws, held by order of Government, in each clan district.
In this connection the following curious Act of Privy Council will
be read with interest. It is dated —
At HOLYROOD HOUSE, 3ist January 1602.
FORSAMEKLE as albeit the Kingis Majestic and his predicessouris of guid
memorie, be divers actis of Parliament statute, and ordaint that Wapponshawings
sould be maid over all the partis of this realme twyce in the yeir, and that all his Hienes
subjectis sould be armit in forme and maner prescryvit in the saidis actis ; notwith-
standing as his Majestic is informit the saidis actis hes at na tyme ressavit executioun
in the Hieland pairtis of this realme, bot hes bene altogidder neglectit and misregair-
dit, quhairthrow the inhabitantis thairof, ar nowther provydit nor furnisht with armour
conforme to the tennour of the saidis actis, nor yit ar thay trayned up and exercised in
the use and handling of thair armes : And his Majestic being cairfull to undirstand the
trew estaite of the saidis Hielandis, and in quhat forme and maner the inhabitantis
thairof ar armit ; his Majestic for this effect hes appointit a generale mustare and
THE HIGHLAND DRESS. 51 r
Wapponshawing, to be maid be thame upoun the dayis following, in presence of thair
mastens, cheifes, and chiftanes of clans under written. That is to say, the haill in-
habitantis of the Lennox and otheris Hieland boundis perteining to the Duke of Len-
nox, in presence of the said Duke, or sic as he sail appoint to ressave thair musteris :
The inhabitantis within the haill boundis perteining to the Erllis of Ergyle, Athole,
and Menteith, and within the stewartries of Stratherne and Menteith, in presence of
the said Erllis of Ergyle and Athole, or thair deputis, everie ane within thair boundis
and in presence of the Abbot of Inchaffray, the Lairdis of Tullibairdin and Lundy for
Menteith and Straitherne, and all to be on the first of March next to come. And the
lyke mustouris to be maid upoun the same day be Allaster MacGregour of Glenstra,
of his haill clan and surename : And that the inhabitantis within the Hieland boundis
perteining to the Marques of Huntly, the Erllis of Sutherland and Caithnes, and the
haill men, tennentis, serventis, and dependeris, and otheris of the clans of the Laird of
Grant, Maclntoshe, Balnagowne (Ross), the Lord Lovate, the Laird of Fowlis
(Munro), Macky, Glengarrie, Mackenzie, the Capitane of Clanrannald, MacConnill
duy (Lochiel), and MacRannald to be reddy to make thair mustaris upon the tent day
of Marche in the presence everie ane of thame of thair masteris chiefes and chif-
tanes, etc., etc.
In an interesting letter by John Elder, a Highland priest to
King Henry VIII., A.D. 1543, he says—" Our delite and pleasure
is not only in huntynge of redd deir, wolfes, foxes, and graies,
wherof we abounde, and have greate plentie, but also in rynninge,
leapinge, swymmynge, shootynge, and throwinge of dartis."
SLOGANS OR WAR-CRIES.
In the event of any sudden surprise, each clan had its own
war-cry ; in most cases these were chosen from some particular
circumstance or incident in the history of the clan, sometimes
from some rallying point to which all were to hasten when the
cry was raised.- The raising of the slogan was sure to bring his
clansmen to a Highlander's assistance if at all within hearing —
The BUCHANANS had " Clar-Imtis" an island in Loch-Lomond.
CAMPBELLS— " Beinn Cruachan" or " 'Sfhadan eigh gu Loch Ogha"—T\$ a
far cry to Loch Ow.
FARQUHARSONS— " Cam na Cuiinhne "—The cairn of remembrance.
ERASERS — " Mor-faigh "— Get more. Later, " Casteal Dhuitiidh. "—Castle
Downie.
FORBES — " Lonach " — A mountain in Strath Don.
GRANT— " Creag Eilcachaidh "— The rock of alarm in Strathspey. Another
branch of the Grants called "Clann Chirin," have " Creag Rabhadh."— The rock of
warning.
MACDONALD—" F-raoch Eilean "—The heathery isle.
MACDONALD, Keppoch— " Dia 's Naomh Andra "—God and St Andrew.
MACDONALD, Clan Ranald— " Aodann Othannaich"
MACDONELL, Glengarry—" Creag an Fhithich"— The raven's rock.
512 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
MACFARLAN — "Loch Sloigh" — The loch of the host.
MACGREGOR— " Ard-Choille " — The woody height.
MACINTOSH — " Loch na Maoidh "—Loch Moy.
MACKAY — " Bratach bhan Chlann Aoidh " — The white banner of Mackay.
MACKENZIE — " Ttilloch Ard"—A. mountain in Kintail.
MACKINNON — " Cuimhnich has Ailpein " — Remember the death of Alpin.
MACPHERSON — " Creag dhubh Chlann Chatain" — A rock in Badenoch.
MENZIES — " Geal a's dearg asuas" — White and red above, from the checks of
their tartan.
MUNRO — " Caisteal Fhulais na theine" — Fowlis Castle on fire.
STEWART — " Creag an Sgairbh " — A rock in Appin.
SUTHERLAND — " Ceann na drochaide bige " — A bridge at Dunrobin.
" Eighe Co'raig" or " Gaoir Chatka" was the name given by
ancient Highlanders to the shouts used when about to engage
in battle. Any loud clamour is still compared to Gaoir Chatha.
We have often heard the remarks " C/ia Chluinnte Gaoir Chatha
leibh" a war shout couldn't be heard for you — made to a person
making a loud noise.
PIPE Music.
The different clans had each their own appropriate rallying
tunes, marches, quicksteps, and laments, and as in the case of
the war cries, etc., were generally connected with some import-
ant historical incident which called forth the courage of the clans-
men. A few of these may be given as follows : —
CAMERON — Salute— " Failte Shir Eobhain" — Sir Ewen's salute. Gathering —
" Ceann na drochaide moire" — The end of the great bridge. March — " Piobaireachd
Dhbnuill Duibh—1\& pibroch of Donald Dubh.
CAMPBELLS of Argyle — Salute—"/^//* 'Mharcuis" — The Marquis' salute.
March — " Baile lonar Aora " — The Campbell's are coming.
CAMPBELLS of Breadalbane— March— " Bodaich nam brigisean" — The carles
with the breeks, or Lord Breadalbane's march.
DAVIDSON'S— Salute— " Failte Thighearna Thulaich."
DRUMMOND'S— March— " Spaidsearachd Dhiuc Pheairt"—^\& Duke of Perth's
march.
FORBES— March— " Cath Ghlinn Eurann."
ERASER'S Lament — " Cumha Mhic S/iimid/i" — Lovat's lament.
GORDON— Salute— " Failte nan Gordanach"—TliQ Gordon's salute.
GRANT— March— " Stad Creag Eileachaidh—Sta.n& fast Creag Eileachaidh.
GRAHAM— Gathering — " Latha Alt-Eire." March— " Raon-JRttairi" Lament
— " Cumha Chlebhers."
MACDONALD of the Isles — Salute — " Faille Shir Seumas " — Sir James' salute.
MAcDoNALD, Glengarry — Salute— "Failte Mhic Alastair"— Glengarry's salute.
Gathering— " Cille Chriost." March — " Spaidsearachd Mhic Mhic-Alastair ard
Sheanna bhean bhochd" — Glengarry's march. Lament — Cumha Mhic Mhic-Alas-
fair " — Glengarry's lament,
THE HIGHLAND DRESS. 513
MACDONALD, Keppoch— Salute— " An tarbh breac dearg" — The spreckled red
bull. Lament — " Cumha na peathar " — The sister's lament.
MACDONALD, Glencoe — Lament— " Mort Ghlinne Comhann" — The Massacre
of Glencoe.
MACDONALD, Clan Ranald— March— " Spaidsearachd Mhic Mhic-Ailein "—Clan
Ranald's march. Lament — " Gumha Mhic Mhic-Ailein " — Clan Ranald's lament.
MACFARLAN— Gathering — " Togail nam &?"— Lifting the cattle.
MACGREGOR— Gathering— " Ruaig Ghlinne Freoine"—1\& chase of Glen
Fruin.
MACINTOSH — Lament — " Cumha Mhic an Toisich " — Mackintosh lament.
MAcKAY— Gathering— " Bhtatach bhan "—The white banner. March — " Piob-
earachd Chlann Aoidh " — The Mackay's march. Lament — " Cumha Shrath-Alla-
daiL"
MACKENZIE — Salute—"/^//* Uilleim Dhuibh" — Black William's salute.
Gathering — " Co-thional Chlann Choinnich " — Mackenzie's gathering. March —
" Cabar Feidh." Lament — " Cumha Thighearna Ghearrloch.
MAcLACHLAN — Salute. — " Moladh Mairi."
MACLEAN — Salute— " Birlinn Thighearna Cholla "—Maclean of Coil's galley.
March — " Cats meachd Eachainn Mhic Ailein nan Sbp." March — " Spaidsearachd
Chlann 'Ill-Eathainn"
MACLEOD — Lament — " Cumha Mhic Leoid."
MACNAB— Salute— " Failte Mhic an Aba." Gathering— " Co-thional Chlann
an Aba."
MACNEIL — March — " Spaidsearachd Mhic Neill"
MACPHERSON— March. Macpherson's \na.vh—("*S fheudar dhomh fhcin a
bhi falbh dhachaidh direach leaf.")
MACRAE— March— " Blar na Pain" Salute—" Failte Loch Duthaich.
ROBERTSON— Salute— "Failte Thighearna- Struthain "— The Laird of Struan's
salute. Gathering— " Thainig Clann Donnachaidh " -The Robertson's have come.
March— " Ribein-gorm"— The Blue Ribbon.
Ross -March—" Spaidsearachd larla Ros "—The Earl of Ross's march.
STEWART— Salute— " Earrach an aigh 's a' ghleann. March— "Birlinn nan
tonn "—The galley of the waves ; and " Gabhaidh sinn an rat/tad mor" commonly
called kafusalem.
SUTHERLAND— Gathering — " Piobaireachd nan Catach"—1\iz Sutherland's
"pibroch." March— "Spaidsearachd an larla Chataich "— The Earl of Suther-
land's march.
BANNERS.
Each clan had its own banner or standard. The use of
banners among the Highlanders is of very ancient date. That
of Fingal called the " Sunbeam" or " Deo-ghrcine" was said to be
particularly beautiful. Ossian gives a most inimitable description
of it in Fingal, Book iv.
" Thog sinn ' Deo-ghreine ' ri crann,
A' bhratach mh6r aig righ nan lann,
Bha solas an anam gach triath',
'Nuair thog i sgiath ri gaoith.
5i4 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
Bha' gorm-shlios bhallach le h-or
Mar shlige ghlais mhoir na h-oidhch'
'Nuair sheallas na reil o'n speur.
Bha bratach aig gach triath dha fein,
'S a ghaisgich bu-treun m' a chruaidh."
The clan banners were usually made of silk, with the armorial
bearings on a blue, green, red, or white field — each clan having its
own particular colour, so as to be easily distinguished at a dis-
tance. Many of these banners have attained historic fame ;
the green banner of the Macphersons — "Bratach mkor CJilann
Mhuirick" still preserved in Cluny Castle — dates as far back as
1672. The Siol Alpein (MacGregors, MacNabs, MacKinnons,
MacPhees, MacQuarries, Grants, and MacAulays) had also a
green banner, the famous " Pine Crested Banner." The Mackays
had a white field — "Bratach bhan Chlaun-Aoidh" — the terror of
the Imperialists in the "Thirty Years' War." The MacLeods
have also a famous flag still preserved at Dunvegan. It is sup-
posed to have been presented by a fairy to one of the clan, and
is only to be unfurled in cases of great danger. It is of yellow
silk, and is now much tattered and decayed.
The "Piobaire Dall" John Mackay, thus describes the banner
of Macdonald : —
" Cruinn-iubhair le brataichean sroil,
Loingeas air chors a's ros-iuil,
Long a's leoghann a's lamh dhearg,
Ga'n cur suas, an ainm an Righ. "
In bringing these articles to a close, we would express the
hope that we have succeeded in creating an interest among our
readers in the dress of our ancestors. We have frequently been
surprised at the (to us) shameful and unpatriotic manner in
which our national, and, at same time, so very comfortable and
becoming a costume is neglected in the Highlands. So much is
this the case in some districts, that a stranger appearing in the
ancient dress of the country, is at once put down for an English-
man or gentleman's piper. The writer has seen, in what prides
itself at being the most Highland county, the people actually
astonished at a man in the kilt being able to speak Gaelic. Many
Highlanders now-a-days do not know how to put the dress on,
and few know the tartan of their own clan.
We think it was Hugh Miller who said that at his time "the
THE HIGHLAND DRESS. 515
only persons who wore the dress were Englishmen who had no
right to it, and soldiers who were paid for wearing it. We have
been pleased, however, of late years to observe, along with the
revival of other Celtic matters, an increasing attachment among
Highlanders in towns for the dress of their fathers. Why it
should be so neglected in the Highlands, it is difficult to under-
stand ? There is certainly no dress so suitable for the country, so
comfortable for the wearer, so cleanly, so economical, or, when
properly made up, so graceful and becoming on a well-propor-
tioned Highlander. It has been proved by the severest tests to
be the best dress, either for winter cold or summer heat. There
is none equal to it for walking, climbing hills, or field work — in
fact for any occupation necessary in the Highlands, with the ex-
ception of fishing and boating — and why it is so much ignored is
difficult to understand."
While the dress is capable of considerable ornamentation,
which necessarily makes it very expensive, it can also be worn
very plain, and the plainer the more gentlemanly ; in fact there
is nothing that looks more out of place than a full-dressed High-
lander on the street.
When the costume was worn regularly in the Highlands,
such ornamentations were only used for special occasions, military
parades, gatherings, etc., etc.
There is another thing we might mention in this con-
nection, which is even much more out of place, and that is the
appearing abroad of any one in the kilt under the influence of
drink. Can such degenerate Highlanders not make beasts of
themselves without at the same time advertising and degrading
their country ? The London Club of True Highlanders have a
very commendable rule bearing on this point, which is worthy of
imitation by other Celtic Societies, viz.: — That any member of
the Society appearing abroad in the Highland dress under the
influence of drink, is liable to expulsion from the Society. This
is as it should be ; any one who is not gentleman enough to con-
duct himself properly should never wear a kilt, for it is not on
himself alone he brings disgrace, but on the race he so very badly
represents. J. G. MACKAY.
[At a future time we purpose giving a sketch on the Dis-
arming Act and the Proscription of the Highland Dress.]
Si6 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
A RUN THROUGH CANADA AND THE STATES.
BY KENNETH MACDONALD, F.S.A., Scot.
VII I. — NIAGARA — (Continued. )
THE first hackman I applied to demanded four dollars for the round
trip to the Whirlpool and back, but, as I walked away, he reduced
his demand to three. With the next two or three I was not more
successful in making a bargain, but, at last, I came upon a re-
spectable-looking middle-aged man standing with a fresh-looking
team in the middle of the roadway. As I came up to him, he
hailed me, and, on learning where I wanted to go, offered to
do the journey for one dollar. This was what I was prepared to
pay, but, as it is always well to have a margin, I told him I would
give seventy-five cents for the trip, and this he agreed to take.
The Niagara hackman, however, has a trick of taking his
fare to many other places than that innocent has any desire to go
to, the result being that a dollar trip frequently ends in an ex-
penditure of ten times that amount — not in payments to the
hackman, but in fees for admission to places which are not worth
visiting, or in levies made in places similar to the " free" Museum
— fees and levies in which the hackman in charge of the victim is
strongly suspected of sharing. I, therefore, stipulated that the
party of the first part — myself — was to be taken to the Whirlpool
and back along the Rapids and nowhere else — the penalty of a
breach on the part of the party of the second part being the for-
feiture of the fare. This being arranged, we started, but had not
gone many yards when we were brought up by a demand for ten
cents toll, which my friend on the box told me I should pay. I
asked him how he proposed to earn his seventy-five cents if he
carried me no further, and he drove on. Whether he paid then
or afterwards I do not know.
A drive of about half-an-hour along a dusty road brought
us to the house of the guardian of the Whirlpool. The admission
fee — I forget what it was — being paid, I was conducted to the
face of the river bank, and placed in a ricketty-looking little
truck, which was slowly lowered by machinery, which I did not
see, but which I presume to be hydraulic, down an inclined rail-
THROUGH CANADA AND THE STATES. 517
way to a level part of the bank near the water. Here I was
alone — not even a guide being present to direct or distract and
I stood watching the rushing, whirling, boiling waters for I know
not how long. Away over on the American side the waters pour
out into the pool from the deep gully they have cut for them-
selves, in wildly tumbling, broken, foaming waves, and they rush
madly onwards on the same side, passing in their hurry the
opening by which they must somehow or other escape, until
they reach the further end of the pool, when they return up the
river on the Canadian side, in a smooth, swiftly-flowing current,
which loses itself in the whirling waters in the centre and at the
top of the pool. The opening through which the waters escape
is on the American side, about half-way down the pool ; and the
course of the river below that point is at right angles to that of
the Rapids above. How the waters escape is not very easily dis-
covered from the Canadian side. They are seen pouring out
through the opening, while all the surface water is rushing past
towards the bottom of the pool without apparently contributing
anything to the discharge. The escape is, therefore, probably by
a strong and deep under-current, originating in the centre of the
pool.
As we drove back along the banks of the river overlooking
the Whirlpool Rapids, I sat on the box beside the driver. At
several points on the way he set me down that I might obtain a
better view of the Rapids. Looked at from the top of the ravine,
which is from two hundred to three hundred feet deep, the river
is seen rushing down the narrow space within which it is con-
fined with a concentrated force, in presence of which even the
power of the Rapids above the Falls seems insignificant. And
yet the river above the Falls makes a descent of about eighty feet
in one mile, while here the descent is only one hundred feet in
seven miles ; but above the Falls the river flows in a bed fully a
mile wide in its narrowest part, while here its average width is
only about one hundred yards. The sheet of water passing over
the Horse Shoe Fall is supposed to be twenty feet deep — in the
Whirlpool Rapids the depth is estimated at three hundred feet.
No description can give an adequate idea of the scene. The
waters of Superior, Huron, and Erie force their way through this
rift in the rocks at the rate of twenty-seven miles an hour, and as
5i8 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
they thunder onwards they ever and anon whirl into angry waves
rising twenty feet and upwards above the head of the astonished
spectator standing on the shore. I had read the story of
the " Maid of the Mist," and her perilous voyage from the
pool below Niagara Falls to Lake Ontario, long before I had seen
either the Whirlpool or the Whirlpool Rapids, but no conception
can be formed of the magnificent daring and nerve of Joel R.
Robinson, the hero of Niagara, who undertook and carried out
this enterprise, until the waters through which he navigated his
little steamer, with no greater loss than her funnel, have been
seen.*
I found my hackman a very decent fellow — he did me no
wrong. He made no secret of the fact that the Niagara hackman
is familiar with ways that are dark and tricks that are vile — he
did not even draw the line at his own son, an unpromising-looking
youth whom he pointed out to me walking with a showily- dressed
young lady, and whom he described as a boy who would cheat a
stranger if he got a chance. He drew the line at himself, how-
ever. He never asks more than his legitimate hire, and is to
some extent boycotted by his brother-hackmen in consequence,
but he prospers nevertheless. He has land — whether as owner
or tenant I forget — to which he devotes most of his time, and he
is virtually independent of his team so far as hiring is concerned.
An Englishman by birth and education, he has carried an Eng-
lishman's love of fairplay to Canada, and thirteen years' life
among Niagara hackmen has not corrupted him. His son, the
young gentleman pointed out to me, is not, however, a success,
but the father goes on working his hardest at home in the
early part of every day, and when he has an afternoon to
spare, turns out his team to earn a few extra dollars to lay by
for a possible time of need. Such was the story of my hackman
as told by himself ; and so far as his dealings with me were con-
cerned, they bore out the character he gave himself. He was an
entertaining and intelligent cicerone, and when I return to
* Since the foregoing was written, the death of poor Captain Webb, while attempt-
ing what cannot be characterised otherwise than the fool- hardy enterprise of swimming
through the Rapids and the Whirlpool, has afforded another illustration, if one were
needed, of the terrible power of the waters of Niagara at this place, and has given
occasion for a good deal of descriptive writing (much of it singularly inexact) on the
subject.
THROUGH CANADA AND THE STATES. 519
Niagara, if ever I do, I hope again to take my place on the box
seat beside William Hibbert, of Niagara Falls, Ontario.
Train time was nearly up, and after a light meal I returned
to have one more last look at the Falls, and this time it was my
luck to see simultaneously two complete rainbows, one over the
Horse Shoe, and the other over the American Falls. While I sat
on my log at the river side above the Falls, the sun, which had
been hidden by a cloud for a few minutes, shone out suddenly,
and in the spray of the Falls were formed the two rainbows.
The effect was very pretty, and the harsh features of the scene
appeared subdued and softened by the delicate-tinted framing in
which for the time they were set.
A hot walk up-hill to the Railway Station, a tiresome wait
in a comfortless wooden shed, waiting for a late train ; a quick
run down to the mouth of the Niagara river, and I find myself
once more on board the " Chicora," heading for Toronto. As
we got out upon the Lake, and the evening advanced, the air
became chili, and I was glad to take refuge in the saloon, where
snugly ensconsed on a sofa I slept until the movement on deck
indicated that we were nearing our destination. The appearance
of Toronto from the Lake in daylight is somewhat imposing, but at
night — at all events on this night — it was by no means so, a few
straggling lights along the Lake front being the only visible signs
that a city lay before us. There was little time left for observa-
tion, however, as we were soon in harbour, and I hurried to my
hotel to prepare for my journey westwards.
Shortly before midnight I took my place on the cars for
Chicago. A Pullman car attached to the train afforded me a
berth, and I was soon asleep, only to awake as we were being
embarked, cars and passengers together, to be ferried across
the River St Clair, which here divides British from American
territory. The little town of Sarnia stands on the Canadian side
of the river, and Port Huron on the American. The River St
Clair, which runs between, is the channel by which the waters of
Lakes Superior, Michigan, and Huron are emptied into Lakes
St Clair and Erie, and, as might be expected, it is a deep, power-
ful stream, although at this point the banks are low, flat, and
sandy. Why the river is not spanned by a bridge I know not.
Compared with some of the works which Canadian and Amen-
520 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
can Railway Companies have undertaken and accomplished, it
does not present the appearance of a difficult engineering feat
Yet unbridged it is, and travellers passing by this route from
Toronto or Montreal to Chicago are ferried across the river sitting
in their seats, somewhat in the manner in which passengers from
Cologne to Rotterdam by the Rhenish Railway are ferried across
the Rhine at Elten, near the Dutch frontier, but with this differ-
ence in favour of the American transit, that whereas in the case
of the Rhine the carriages are run into the river until the water
reaches the footboards or the floor, and in some cases until they
seem to be almost afloat, in the case of the St Clair there are
properly constructed embarking and landing places, and every-
thing is done so smoothly and safely that nothing is seen or felt
which should disturb the most sensitive nerves. The double rows
of carriages having been run on deck, and the gangway closed,
the powerful steam barge soon ran us across the river, and we
stood on American soil. The first demand made upon me by
the great Republic was to see my valise, which, on being laid
open, was found to contain nothing more dangerous to Uncle Sam
than a change of linen and a report on Canadian agriculture.
Pointing to my open valise, and looking towards the manly but
somewhat seedy-looking bosom of the representative of American
freedom, I asked whether there was a tax on clean linen, but the
point was not seen, and I moved sadly off to breakfast, feeling
that my first attempt to be smart at the expense of brother
Jonathan had resulted in miserable failure, mainly through the
obtuseness of that gentleman.
A journey of considerably over three hundred miles through
the State of Michigan on a broiling day is not a pleasant experience.
The natural features of the portion of the State through which
we ran were not particularly interesting, and the clouds of sand
which found their way into the cars by the constantly opening
doors, and through the inevitable openings in the floors and
windows, did nothing to add to the interest of the journey.
Early in the afternoon the monotony was broken by a stoppage
and a pleasant dinner at Battle Creek, the half-way house be-
tween Port Huron and Chicago. Passengers who had been
scowling at each other all the forenoon, as if they were mutually
responsible for each other's misery, now struck up acquaintance-
"SOCIAL STATE OF THE ISLE OF SKYE." 521
ships. The depot at Battle Creek enjoys the luxury of a clock —
a comparative rarity in American railway stations — and as we
put our watches . back twenty-six minutes to get Chicago time
(on which we were running), we gravely congratulated each
other on being able to add nearly half-an-hour to so pleasant a
day. The " All aboard" of the conductor sent most of the gentle-
men to the smoking car, where conversation became general,
and an hour or two passed rather agreeably. I here made the
acquaintance of the Chicago Grain Inspector, to whom I have
already referred, and from him I learned a good deal of the
manner in which business is conducted in the metropolis of the
Prairies. K. M'D.
(To be continued.)
THE HIGHLANDS AND HIGHLANDERS OF SCOTLAND.— A work under this title,
being historical, traditional, descriptive, anecdotal, and biographical sketches by
James Cromb, of the Dundee Evening Telegraph, is in the press, and will be issued
immediately. The author presents a series of interesting sketches of the Highlands,
and of the habits of the Highland people prior to the battle of Culloden. The work
deals with the Highland dress, its history and vicissitudes, Gaelic superstitions, Clan
feuds, and modes of warfare ; the functions in the Clan system of the Seer, the Min-
strel, the Piper, and the Chieftain ; the fidelity of the Clan to the Chiefs ; with
instances of Highland heroism in Clan warfare, and afterwards of the Highland Regi-
ments in the field. Some of the more prominent events of Highland history will be
dealt with at length, such as the Massacre of Glencoe, the Rising of 1745-6, with an
account of the battle of Culloden, and the subsequent hardships of Prince Charles.
Biographical sketches are given of Flora Macdonald, Rob Roy, Viscount Dundee, the
Marquis of Montrose, Duncan Forbes of Culloden, and Sir Ewen Cameron of Lochiel.
Altogether the work cannot fail to be attractive, especially to Highlanders.
"THE SOCIAL STATE OF THE ISLE OF SKYE IN 1882-3."— A work, under
this title, by the Editor of the Celtic Magazine, author of the " History of the Highland
Clearances," extending to over 250 pages, will be published immediately by A. & W.
Mackenzie, Inverness. The book will present a very complete picture of the state of,
and proceedings in, the Isle of Skye during the last two eventful years, to date of pub-
lication. The portion of the " Highland Clearances" referring to the Island is repro-
duced, and a full account is added of the Trial and Imprisonment of the Glendale
Crofters, and of the events which led up to them. An introductory chapter of some fifty
pages deals with the evidence submitted to the Royal Commission in the Island ; and
altogether the work will be found a very complete picture of the social state of Skye
and its causes. In an appendix a full report is given of Patrick Sellar's trial, in con-
nection with the Sutherland Clearances, while the recent attempt to whitewash him in
the form of a book by his son, and the position taken up by the Scotsman on this and
other questions of interest to the Highland people are briefly touched upon. The
work will be issued at a price which will enable all those who take a special interest in
the Western Isles, to procure it, viz. : 2s. 6d.
522 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
THE ETHICS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY.
VII. — DISTRIBUTIVE JUSTICE.
HAVING in the preceding chapter (" The Reign of Universal
Law"), pointed out that the order of nature, in its adaptation to
the physical constitution and wants of man, is one of increase
and development, and, further, that human labour, which appears
to be a part of the same design, is in harmony with the universal
scheme, inasmuch as it not only furnishes man with all his
present wants, but also accumulates wealth for the benefit of
posterity, it still remains to be demonstrated and proved that a
dual system of land tenure is a transgression of a moral-physical
law which is imprinted on nature and human nature.
What gives a title to immortal fame to the author of the
"Wealth of Nations," is the great discovery that labour is the
foundation and measure of value, and that he combined with the
elucidation of that important truth, and as a necessary corollary,
the removal of all restraints so as to give it its full development,
under conditions of freedom, justice, and equality. It should,
therefore, appear that if labour, or human effort, in the service of
society, is the foundation of value, it should also be the foundation
of economic justice.
His system of polity is, however, defective for two reasons.
The first, and most fatal error, consists in his having, for logical
purposes, divided human nature into two parts. His moral
philosophy deals with the benevolent and sympathetic side, and
in the " Wealth of Nations " he confines himself too exclusively
to the selfish side. Yet it must be allowed, notwithstanding this
mistake, that he outshines all successors in regard to a high
conception of freedom and justice; for we find that the moral
philosopher cannot completely disguise himself in the political
economist, and the hard logic of the latter work is not unfre-
quently brightened up by flashes of virtuous indignation at the
sordidness and injustice of " the masters of mankind."
The second defect arises from his not having rigorously ad-
hered to and carried to their ultimate logical consequence his own
fundamental propositions. It ought to have appeared to Adam
ETHICS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. 523
Smith, as it now appears to everyone, that landlordism, or a dual
tenure, is a system of restraints and injustice. From this defect
has arisen the vexed question of rent, which neither he nor his
successors eliminated as a residuum to be appropriated by the
State.
These defects, however, might have been easily pointed out
and corrected, if the great philosopher had been succeeded by
investigators capable of revising his works by his own method of
deduction from fundamental principles; but economics and
politics, under the term political economy, became the study of
mere empirics who undertook to explain the phenomena of
industrial and organised society by the method of induction,
whilst leaving out of view the attributes and motives, individual
and social, which form the very basis of progress and order. It
must appear to everyone that the mere acquisition of wealth for
its own sake is an ignoble pursuit if obtained at the expense of
progress and order, and in violation of principles of freedom and
justice. Yet writers on economics and politics have set them-
selves to construct a social edifice without laying its foundation
in ethics, and it may well be said of their writings that —
" Such reasoning falls like an inverted cone,
Wanting its proper base to stand upon. "
The reader will remember my quotation of Aristotle's
formulae of distributive justice, quoted in the chapter treating of
Value. That peerless philosopher, whose insight into, and
analysis of the fundamental laws of human nature, as bearing on
individual conduct and on social life, will probably never be
surpassed, divided his system of polity into three parts — ethics,
economics, and politics — making ethics the foundation of his
system. His argument is based on the theory that as the State
is composed of individuals, and as the natural and normal condi-
tion of the soul leans towards natural virtue, it is essential to
attend to good moral training of the intellect in order to consti-
tute not only a happy family, but also a well-conditioned society
and a prosperous State. He, therefore, recommended a national
system of education — a measure, it is hardly necessary to remark,
which the world is very slow in adopting.
Then, contemplating human society in a state of education,
he regarded it as an indispensible condition that citizens should
2 L
524 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
enjoy perfect freedom under the reign of universal laws, for with-
out freedom you cannot establish responsibility — the feeling
which works human prudence. For example, the landlords say
that the crofters are increasing too rapidly. But they are not in
the enjoyment of freedom ; therefore you cannot establish re-
sponsibility, and it is a well ascertained fact that slaves and serfs,
or men nearly allied to the brute creation, increase more rapidly
than in a state of freedom and responsibility. On the other
hand, and by way of contrast, I find in these Channel Islands, with
a dense population in a state of perfect freedom, that there is
great comfort and happiness with hardly any increase of popula-
tion. If immortality were assigned to man on earth, and that
he were relieved from bodily sickness and pain, I could hardly
imagine a greater paradise on earth than these islands of free-
holders.
But the most profound and brilliant conception of this prince
of philosophers was the application of proportionals to commuta-
tive justice or economic relationships. His idea of progress and
social order was combination of effort with distribution of func-
tion— to the exclusion of idleness in virtue of power or privilege.
Reference has already been made to the observations of Buckle,
to the effect that the distribution of wealth was governed entirely
by physical laws, which are so active as to have kept a vast
majority of the inhabitants of the fairest portions of the globe in
a condition of constant poverty ; and that if these could be
demonstrated, it would be of immense advantage. He adds,
that the great law of the ratio between the cost of labour and
the profits of stock is the highest generalisation political econo-
mists have reached respecting the distribution of wealth. Now,
the amelioration of the condition of mankind by the discovery of
some physical law may possibly be in store for us, but, even in
our present state of knowledge, the economists could have
found, in the ethics of Aristotle, not only the ratio which they
claim to have discovered, but formulae of moral law which they
have hitherto failed to apply to economic life. Indeed, these do
not appear to be understood, owing probably to the confused
theories of political economists, for Archdeacon Browne, the
learned translator and editor of my edition of Aristotle, remarks
as follows : —
ETHICS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. 525
" There still remain to be considered the principles of commutative justice ; but
these Aristotle has not laid down quite so clearly as he has those of the other two
divisions. He, evidently, as far as can be seen from the fifth chapter, considers it a
branch of corrective justice ; but, at the same time, as regulated in some degree by
the principles of distributive justice also. Equality is maintained by an equivalent
payment for the commodities exchanged or purchased ; and, therefore, arithmetical
proportion is observed, as in corrective justice ; but this equivalent is estimated, and
the commodities and parties compared, according to the law of geometrical propor-
tion.
" There is one point which requires observation as presenting an apparent diffi-
culty. How is it that Aristotle considers natural justice as a division of political
justice, whereas it might be supposed that immutable principles of justice were im-
planted in, and formed a part of man's nature, antecedently even to any idea of his
social condition as a member of political society ? The answer to this question is, that
the natural state of man is the social condition. Under any other circumstances, it
would be in vain to look for the development of any one of his faculties. The history
of the human race never presents man to us except in relation to his fellow-man.
Even in savage life, the rude elements of civil society are discoverable. If we could
conceive the existence of an individual isolated from the rest of his species, he would
be a man only in outward form, he would possess no sense of right and wrong, no
moral sentiments, no ideas on the subject of natural justice. The principles of natural
justice are doubtless immutable and eternal, and would be the same had man never
existed ; but as far as man is concerned, the development of them must be sought for
in him as we find him ; that is, in his social condition, and no other."
The reader may readily believe that the want of clearness
was not in the mind of the incomparable Aristotle, but in the
minds of modern political economists. In my chapter on Value,
I pointed out that the landlord, as such, could not come within
the equation of justice, and I may add now that he is outside
what Aristotle considered a society constituted on principles of
justice.
Now, let it be observed that Aristotle gives two formulae of
distributive justice, and states of both that they are according to
geometrical proportion, which accounts for whole quantities
according to ratios, and not arithmetical, as in corrective justice,
which is judicial; as, for instance, in the case of fines and penalties.
He terms the one " disjunctive," and the other " continuous." It
is evident that these are intended to embrace all the relations
and transactions of economic life. Of the disjunctive proportion
an illustration has already been given, but at the risk of being
thought tedious, if I can hope to make myself perspicuous, I now
repeat it. With regard to labour and capital, wages and profits,
we can say, as wages to profits so is labour to capital, and there
is a perception of the mind, according to fundamental principles
526 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
of human nature, as to the proportion in which these ought to
be divided or distributed. Now, trade has become so largely and
systematically organised that these fundamental principles mani-
fest themselves in practice so far that a ratio has been discovered
by modern political economists ! In industrial life there are only
two persons and two things. The two persons are the capitalist
and the labourer ; the two things wages and profits, which are the
rewards of labour and capital. In the business of exchange, as
well as production, it is the same thing, and although wages and
profits are sometimes indifferently denominated fees, commissions,
interest, salaries, etc., they may be all classed under either or both
of these terms, and sometimes they are both united in one person.
This is not the place to discuss the phenomenon of interest,
which by false analogy, and a certain vagueness of ideas, is some-
times confounded with and regarded the same thing as the
gross rent of land. It is sufficient here to point out that the term
arises from the charge made for the use of money, which is the
standard of value, and that interest is to be regarded not only as
profit, but also as the standard of the current rate of profit.
There is, therefore, no ambiguity in regard to the " disjunc-
tive" proportion ; but what are we to understand by the "continu-
ous" proportion in which the mean term is mentioned twice,
thus : — As A is to B, so is B to C — and how are we to apply it ?
It has been pointed out in the chapter referred to, that the land-
lord could not be equated under the disjunctive formula, because
there are three persons — the landlord, the farmer, and the
labourer — and only two things, capital and labour. By inadvert-
ance I mentioned land instead of capital, and I wish to make the
correction here. In commutative justice we have still to deal with
land and the revenue of the State. These could not have been
left out of consideration by so comprehensive and luminous a
mind as that of Aristotle, and it is evident, from the term " con-
tinuous," that this formula is intended to apply to the revenue of
the State.
However, before entering on this subject, it will be necessary
to make some further explanations. A definition of Land and
Value has already been given, and I have at some length discussed,
and, as I think, solved the question — "What is Rent ?" In order to
some more accurate conception than those conveyed by the de-
"CLARSACH AN DOIRE." 527
finitions of the economists, it will be necessary to define what is
Wealth, what is Capital, and what is Labour, and to show how
these' range themselves under the ideas of Power and Force.
Guernsey. MALCOLM MACKENZIE.
CLARSACH AN DO IRE : GAELIC POEMS AND
SONGS. By NEIL MACLEOD. Edinburgh : Maclachlan and
Stewart. Inverness : A. & W. Mackenzie.
THE entire stock of Celtic literature, and of Gaelic literature in
particular, is but limited, and consequently every fresh addition
materially increases either the meritorious or deleterious per-
centage. New additions ought, therefore, to be watched with
jealous care, and would-be authors should be sure that their con-
tributions would tend to increase the number of the good ere
they ventured on publication. Curiously enough, the great bulk
of our Gaelic literature is in verse. Yet we cordially welcome a
new claimant to a place among the Gaelic bards, in the Clarsach
now before us. Those who induced Mr Macleod to overcome
his native modesty and try his hand " in guid black print" have
conferred an obligation on all the lovers and readers of Gaelic.
Apart altogether from its high poetic merits, Mr Macleod's work
is important, being, as it undoubtedly is, a repertory of correct,
idiomatic, smooth, and classic Gaelic, redolent of the heather and
the healthy breezes of the Isle of Skye, and breathing the native
humour and manly good sense of its people.
Many of the pieces comprised in the work have already ap-
peared in a fugitive shape in newspapers and periodicals; some
of them in the pages of the Celtic Magazine. Those who then
enjoyed Mr Macleod's home-spun lilts will be glad to see them
in a permanent shape in his very tasteful volume. It cannot be
expected that all the pieces are equally meritorious; but they are
all readable; the sentiment is, in all cases, good, rhythmically
and pleasantly expressed.
Like most of our Gaelic poets, Mr Macleod belongs to the
objective school, and he wields a facile brush in his delineations
of Highland home scenes. Good examples of his powers in this
respect will be found in his opening piece, "An Gleann 's an
528 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
robh mi 6g," and in his " Failte do 'n Eilean Sgiathanach." We
quote a stanza or two from the latter —
" Chi mi Cuchuilinn
Mar leoghan gun tioma,
Le fhiasaig de'n t-sneachd
Air a pasgadh m' a cheann,
'S a ghruaidhean a' sruladh,
Le easanan smuideach,
Tha tuiteam na'n luban
Gu urlar nam beann.
Do chreagan gu h-uaibhreach
Mar challaid m' an cuairt dhut,
'S na neoil air an iomairt
A' filleadh mu 'm barr;
'S am bonn air a sguabadh
Le srulaichean gruamach
Bho bhkrcadh a' chuain,
A toirt nuallain air traigh. "
In the dialogue between the Bee and the Fly, which first ap-
peared in our own pages, and which might be described as an
amplification of the fable of the Ant and the Grasshopper, Mr
Macleod treats us to a moral lecture on the blessings and benefits
of industry; but we do not think his poetic or perceptive powers
appear in it to as much advantage as in his less ambitious
productions — his songs, for instance, one or two of which are
peculiarly sweet. A very potent inspirer of the bard's muse
must have been Sine Chaluim Bhain, for to her praises he dedi-
cates a lyric of tenderness not surpassed by any in the book.
After enlarging on her virtues and charms, he thus concludes his
love-struck lay —
" Ach 's eagal learn gu bheil mi cli,
'S gu'n deachaidh m' inntinn cearr,
Cha'n fhaigh mi fois air muir no tir,
Cha'n 'eil mi tinn no sla-n;
'S cha'n 'eil ach dithis anns an sglr
A bheir dhomh slth gu brath;
'S e 'n dara h-aon diubh sin a' chill ,
No Sine Chaluim Bhain."
We trust for the sake of the bard himself, and for the future
of Gaelic poetry, that he will not be reduced to the dire alterna-
tive of the church-yard for the cure of his heart-ache.
Another sweet and most musical song is that beginning
" Ged tha mise 'n Duneideann," the air chosen for it being that
" CLARSACH AN DOIRE." 529
known as " Duanag a Chiobair ;" and we would here hint to Mr
Macleod not to adapt so many of his pieces to Lowland airs ;
not because they are not worthy of his attention--— far from it —
but because the habits of English rhyme and rhythm, as well as of
Lowland music, are so radically different from those of Highland
music and song that, even with Mr Macleod's smooth versification,
the singing of these gives rise to a sense of incongruity, and the
difficulties of adjusting the accents of words and music cannot
fail to have a cramping effect on his prosody, if not on his freedom
of sentimental expression. The author is never more at home
than when he allows his musical verses to swell out in cadence
with some sweet time-honoured Highland melody. As an
illustration, we refer the readers to " Mo Chruinneag Ileach."
A Skye poet could not be expected to ignore the stirring
events which have rendered the island famous during the last
two years. Mr Macleod has devoted a song to the expression of
his sentiments on the social unrest in the Isle of Skye during those
years, its causes and lessons. He counsels his fellow-country-
men to be valiant in maintaining their cause, but deprecates en-
tirely any appeal to physical violence or misrule, and concludes by
shadowing forth the restoration of peace, plenty, and comfort to
his beloved native Isle. Here are the closing stanzas of this com-
position—
" Ach duisgibh, mo chkirdean,
'S bhur duthaich na fagaibh,
Ach seasaibh gu laidir,
'Ga tearnadh le buaidh.
Bhur sinnsirean dh'f hag i
Mar dhileab gu brath dhuibh—
'Us dionaibh-s' an traths' i
Do'n al a thig uaibh.
Cha'n ann le mi-riaghailt,
Ach tuigseach 'us ciallach,
Gun lubadh, gun fhiaradh
Am briathran no'n gnaths.
Tha mlltean 'us ciadan
A sheasas mar dhion duibh,
Gu 'm faigh sibh na's miann leibh
De shliabh nam beann krd.
Theid crioch air gach f6irneart,
'S bidh biadh agus st6ras,
Bidh slth agus s61as
A' c6mhdach na tlr';
530 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
Bidh fuinn agus 6rain
Gu binn aig an 6igridh,
'S na ribhinnean boidheach
Mu'n chro le 'n crodh-laoidh.
Gach oighr' agus baillidh,
Gun fhoill 'us gun ardan,
Ri 'n daoine cho cairdeil,
Mar bhk iad o thus;
'S bidh Gaidheil gun aireamh
An duthaich nan ard-bheann,
Cuir mais' air an aite,
'S a' fas ann an cliii. "
Poetic effusions called forth by stirring events are not always
successful performances, and much as we admire Mr Macleod's
" Croitearar Sgiathanach," we venture to think that the picture
presented in the following stanzas of " An Gleann 's an robh mi
6g," already referred to, are very far superior, and appeal with
much more effect to the warmest feelings of the patriotic Celt
than the exhortations of his special effort : —
" Tha na fardaichean na'm fasaich,
Far an d' araicheadh na se6id,
. Far 'm bu chridheil fuaim an gaire,
Far 'm bu chalrdeil iad mu'n bhord;
Far am faigheadh coigreach bkigh,
Agus knrach bochd a 16n';
Ach cha'n fhaigh iad sin 's an am so,
Anns a' ghleann 's an robh mi 6g.
" Chaochail maduinn ait' ar n-oige,
Mar an ceb air bharr nam beann ;
Tha ar ckirdean 's ar luchd-eolais,
Air am fogradh bhos 'us thall;
Tha cuid eile dhiubh nach gluais,
Tha 'n an cadal buan fodh 'n fh6id,
'Bha gun uaill, gun fhuath, gun antlachd,
Anns a' ghleann 's an robh mi 6g."
We must, however, refer our readers to the book itself for further
illustration of our observations, feeling quite sure that the result
will be that they will agree with us in pronouncing the volume
a valuable addition to Gaelic literature, and a delightful com-
panion for a leisure hour. It is beautifully printed, in bold, clear
type, at the Aberdeen University Press, by Messrs A. King & Co.,
and neatly bound in gilt cloth case, a production most creditable
to all concerned.
.THE HIGHLANDERS OF NEW ZEALAND AND
THEIR DISTRESSED COUNTRYMEN AT HOME.
DEAN OF GUILD MACKENZIE, Editor of the Celtic Magazine, has
received the following communication. It speaks for itself. We
trust other Highlanders abroad will copy the excellent example
set them by their countrymen of Invercargill : —
INVERCARGILL, SOUTHLAND,
NEW ZEALAND, i4th June 1883.
ALEXANDER MACKENZIE, Esquire,
Dean of Guild, Inverness,
DEAR SIR, — We beg to hand you enclosed a draft on London
for the sum of £85. 153. od., and shall count it a great favour if
you will take the trouble to have this amount distributed amongst
the distressed families in Skye and adjacent islands. The ques-
tion may arise with you, Who is this money from ? The appalling
accounts given in the home papers of the distress existing among
our unfortunate countrymen in the North Highlands, prompted
the undersigned to be up and doing amongst their countrymen
here, and the result was the subscription of the sum mentioned,
in the course of a few days, in and around the town of Invercar-
gill. It is with unmixed satisfaction we have to record the liberal
and generous spirit in which our countrymen here responded to
this call of charity. It shows that, though far distant from their
native land, the kindly spirit of the Scot for his poorer country-
men is still undiminished. Long may it be so! We, in this
colony, can scarcely realise that in a country like Britain (the
wealthiest in the world), such destitution should exist, more espe-
cially amongst the most loyal and law-abiding subjects in the
three kingdoms. It appears to be a truism what that doughty
champion of our countrymen (Professor Blackie) says : — That
they, the Highlanders, are the most loyal and most abused of
Her Majesty's subjects. We have no hesitation in saying that, if
some scheme of emigration could be arrived at between the Home
and the New Zealand Governments, and a number of the High-
landers induced to come out here, they would receive in this
colony a true Highland welcome. There is no such thing here
as fighting with death for bread ; every man who is sober and
willing to work can at all times command good wages, and it
would be one of the greatest blessings that could befall the High-
landers if some mode could be arranged to give those willing to
come out here a helping hand. May \ve ask you to acknowledge
532
THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
receipt of this contribution, as also the enclosed list of subscribers
in the Celtic Magazine and Inverness Courier: We may add that
a further contribution will probably reach you by an early mail. —
We are, dear sir, yours faithfully,
D. L. MATHESON, Merchant.
RODERICK MACLEOD, Accountant
The following is the subscription list : —
T. M. Macdonald, Invercargill ^2 2 o
Donald L. Matheson, do. ... 220
Roderick Macleod, do. ... 220
Mackenzie & Gilbertson, do. 220
Duncan Macarthur, do. ... 220
Thomas Watson, do. ... 220
Thomas Denniston, do. ... 220
Mrs Robert Taylor, do. ... 220
A. J. Ellis, do 200
John Macbride and Niece, do. 6 o
Kenneth Maciver, do. ... 5 o
Donald Macgregor, do. ... o
J. L. Macdonald, do. ... o
Neil Macleod, do. ... .. o
J. C. Thomson, do o
R. Buchanan, do. ... ... o
John Kingsland, do. ... o
Robert Erskine, do.... ... o
J. & W. Sloan, do o
Wm. Smith, do o
James Harvey, do. ... ... o
J. T. Thomson, do o
Wm. Paisley & Co., do. ... o
Wm. Craig, do. ... ... o
James Mackintosh, sen., Glad-
field o
F. W. Burwell, Invercargill o
James Manson, do. ... ... o
A. & T. Carmichael, Wallace-
town ... ... ... o
Angus Kerr, Invercargill ... o
Duncan Carmichael, do. ... o
Donald Ross, Spey Street, do. o
D. A. Cameron, Nokomai ... o
Angus Mackay, Longbush ... o
Lachlan Fraser, Waianiwa ... o
James Mackay, Longbush ... o
Alex. Munro, East Invercargill o
Andrew White, Invercargill o
David Smyth, do. ... ... o
G. A. Birch, do o
John Murdoch, do. ... ... o
Geo. Macleod, do. ... ... o o
Donald Macleod, Winton ... o o
Duncan Campbell, Invercargill o
J. G. Brown, do. ... .. o o
Alex. Mair, do. ... ... o o
Campbell & Ritchie, do. ... o o
Carried forward ... /S7 16 o
Brought forward
£57
16 o
o o
o o
o o
o o
o o
o o
o o
o o
o o
15 2
10 6
10 6
10 6
James Mackintosh, jun., Gladfield
John Melvin, Invercargill ...
George Macleod, Forest Hill
Miss Agnes Taylor, sen., Inver-
cargill ...
John M'Crostie, Spar Bush
John Borrie, Invercargill ...
J. W. Hamilton, Thornbury
Henry Macculloch, Invercargill
James G. Macneill, do.
Thomas Maclean, Forest Hill o
William Todd, Invercargill o
James Mackintosh, do. ... o
John Mackenzie, do. o
A. Mackenzie, Invercargill ; A.
Macewen, do. ; Miss Macgoun,
do. ; M. A. Ashendon, do. ;
James Thomson, do. ; A. Mac-
kellar, do.; A. Raeside, do.;
Alexander Storie, do.; Hugh
Hunter, do.; James Milne,
Wyndham; John A. Mitchell,
Invercargill ; David Strang,
do.; John Maclean, Appleby ;
John Macleod, Flints Bush ;
Wm. Macleod, Jacobs River :
Charles Douglas, Invercargill ;
James Macgregor, do.; Wm.
Millar, do. ; Peter Walker, do. ;
W. S. Moir, do. ; Eric Mackay,
do.; W. J. Inglis, do.; R. P.
Macgoun, do.; W. Handyside,
do. ; D. Maclean, North Inver-
cargill ; John Campbell, Mo-
koreta— los. each ... 13 o o
Alexander Menzies, Invercargill ;
William Pettigrew, do. ; James
Lennie, do.; D. Ross, Tay
Street, do. ; John Findlay, do. ;
D. G. Macpherson, do.; D.
Erskine, do.; A Friend, do,;
John Findlay, do. ; William
Martin, do.; J. A. Forbes, do.;
F. Mackillop, do. ; James Mac-
crostie, do.; W. J. Harvey,
North Invercargill— 55. each 3 10 o
A Friend 026
Total ..
15
533
"THE ISLE OF SKYE IN 1882 AND 1883."
THE following extracts are from the Introduction to a work,
by the Editor of the Celtic Magazine, under the above title, re-
ferred to elsewhere, to be published immediately by A. & W.
Mackenzie, Inverness: —
EVICTION RESULTS IN SKYE.
These Skye evictions [detailed in the work] affected directly some seven hundred
families, each, on an average, representing at least five persons, and making a grand total
of more than three thousand five hundred souls, not less than two thousand of whom were
evicted, during the last half century, from the property of Macleod of Macleod ! What
physical misery, what agony of soul these figures represent, it is impossible even to
imagine ! The number of those removed in Skye, as elsewhere, from one portion of the
island to another — even from one part of an estate to another — can never be ascertained ;
and the misery and loss endured by these can only be surpassed by the misfortunes of those
who had been forcibly driven from their native land altogether ; though that unfortu-
nate class are left out of account when the more drastic and complete forms of eviction
are written or spoken of. There is also another class who were, and are being, de-
prived of their hill pasture and left to comparative starvation, with their cattle, on
wretchedly small and unprofitable arable patches among the barren rocks on the sea-
shore. And all this misery and agony to gratify the inhuman selfishness of some two
or three persons who, by the mere accident of birth, enjoy a power which they could
never have otherwise secured for themselves !
THE "SCOTSMAN" IN THE SCALES.
The one-sided position taken up by the Scotsman in connection with this [the
Crofter] question, can easily be gathered from what appears in the body of the book,
especially at pages 135 to 143 ; but it may be added, as a further illustration, that its
representative, while reporting the proceedings of the Royal Commission in the Lewis,
was driven about the Island, and to the meetings of the Commission, by Lady Mathe-
son's Chamberlain, while the other reporters had to provide carriages in the usual way,
at their own expense ; and that he was entertained as the guest of the Chamberlain's
principal accountant while in Stornoway. It may further be added, that this reporter
concocted and sent the most unfounded falsehoods to his journal regarding my own
sayings and doings in the Isle of Skye, during my visit to the Island, on a recent
occasion, and that his journal maintained its character for partiality and unfairness, by
refusing to insert a correction of the false statements so meanly manufactured and sent
to him by his own reporter.
If any further evidence be necessary, to prove the inexplicably one-sided un-
scrupulousness of the Scotsman, under its present management, it will be found in the
following: — On the 2Oth of July last, it published a letter, from Macleod of Macleod,
on " Highland Land Rights," in which he quotes a paragraph from a speech delivered
by Dr Cameron, M.P. for Glasgow, at a meeting of the Federation of Celtic Socie-
ties, held in Liverpool, on the 2nd of January 1883, and charges me with using similar
and even stronger language in the Isle of Skye. The quotation from Dr Cameron is
as follows : —
534 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
" Before the '45 rising the tenants in the Highlands had distinct proprietary rights
in the land they cultivated, and the chiefs were looked upon as the trustees for the
clans. But after '45 the feudal system was introduced, the tenants lost their rights,
and the landlords were made the absolute proprietors of the land. In Scotland there
was provision made for the registration of titles to the land ; but the very existence of
that registration had the effect of quickly getting rid of the proprietary interests of the
tenants. The landlords, of course, registered their titles, but the crofters knew
nothing about the system of registration, and took no trouble to register the rights
they had in the land."
What Macleod said regarding myself, and my comments thereon, will be found in my
reply addressed to the Scotsman^ but, consistently with that journal's characteristic
lack of fair-play towards the crofters and their friends, it was refused insertion. The
Scotsman has, on repeated occasions, misreported my remarks, and then honoured me
by criticism, in his leading articles, on what I never did say. He cannot, in point of
fact, afford to allow the truth to appear in his columns, as to what the crofter's friends
say and do, and at the same time, make an outward appearance of decency and ap-
parent truthfulness in his abuse of them for what they neither say nor do. Here is
my reply to Macleod, which the Scotsman, for these and other reasons of his own,
would not insert : —
"TO THE EDITOR OF THE 'SCOTSMAN.'"
" Celtic Magazine Office, 2nd Aug. 1883.
" SIR, — Having been from home for the last fortnight, \ have hitherto been un-
able to notice Macleod of Macleod's letter on the above subject, which appeared in
your issue of 2Oth July last. I expect that you will, on the simple ground of fairplay,
permit me to do so now, though my doing so may seem somewhat late.
" Having given a quotation from the speech delivered by Dr Cameron, M.P., at
Liverpool, on the 2nd of January last, as to the respective rights of landlords and ten-
ants to the soil in the Highlands, Macleod proceeds : — 'I should not have quoted this
remarkable statement, for which there was no foundation whatever, were it not that
similar language has been used lately by Dean of Guild Mackenzie, who has gone
through Skye in advance of the Commission, assuring the people that the land be-
longed to them, and that, with a view to its recovery, they should represent their
condition to the Commissioners as one of extreme hardship and suffering, and their
proprietors as heartless oppressors.' This whole statement by Macleod regarding me,
my doings and sayings, is simply and absolutely untrue. For this, however. I do not
hold him responsible, except in so far as he has unwittingly accepted the statements
of some underling flatterer, who must have drawn upon his imagination as to what I
was saying and doing in the Isle of Skye. [ know that Macleod was not in the island
when I was there, and, therefore, he could not have had any personal knowledge of the
subject upon which he wrote.
"I cannot but feel flattered that Macleod should consider my sayings of rrrore
importance than Dr Cameron's, M.P. ; and as others, as well as he, may possibly
care to know how the facts really stand, permit me to say that I not only disapproved
of Dr Cameron's statement, as quoted by Macleod, but that a few days after it was
made, I publicly said so in presence of one of the Royal Commissioners, Sir Kenneth
S. Mackenzie of Gairloch, Baronet, who, on the occasion, presided at the annual
dinner of the Gaelic Society of Inverness, when I had the honour of occupying the
opposite end of the table. I then pointed out the mischief that such crude and inac-
curate statements were likely to lead to, and stated that most Highland proprietors
held charters for the last four or five hundred years, as I myself had shown in my his-
tories of the Macdonalds and Mackenzies, and, more recently, in my ' History of the
Camerons,' now passing through the Celtic Magazine.
"It is quite possible that what I did say regarding the rights of landlords and
tenants to the land would not be of sufficient interest to the general public to justify
me in asking you to publish it. I may, however, be permitted to state that I hold the
rights of the landlords to be legally unassailable, and that I said so in Skye and else-
where, as well as that I would not, even in the public interest, deprive them of a six-
pence worth without full compensation for the agricultural value of their estates. I,
"SOCIAL STATE OF THE ISLE OF SKYE," 535
however, hold very decided views as to the natural rights of the people to live in their
native land as against the legal rights of the landlords to evict them. I have openly
given expression to these views, and I shall not rest satisfied until the legal rights of
the landlords are brought into harmony with the natural rights of the people by Act
of Parliament. I shall soon have an opportunity of stating more fully, before the
Royal Commission, what my views on that most important subject are ; meanwhile I
trust that you will insert this in your next issue. — I am, &c.,
"ALEX. MACKENZIE.
" P.S. — When men in Macleod of Macleod's position make such reckless and
unfounded statements in your columns, people should hesitate before charging the
less-favoured crofters with wilful misrepresentation in detailing their grievances to the
Queen's representatives. They cannot all, like me, call a Royal Commissioner to
their aid to rebut the baseless charges made against them. " A. M."
I am not, however, without hopes as to the future of the Scotsman on the Crofter
question. As soon as he finds that his ravings are ignored by the Liberal Government
of the day, so soon the Scotsman will ponderously support the Government and turn
his back upon himself, as he has done in the past, with scarcely an exception, in
similar circumstances. It, however, requires more talent than the editorial depart-
ment at present commands to ensure success in so delicate an acrobatic performance,
and, probably, rather than expose himself too glaringly he will make a further and
stronger effort to maintain his consistency in a career of 'abuse and misrepresentation
of the Highland people.
PATRICK SELLAR'S TRIAL.
Mr Sellar has chosen to publish a book in reply to those who believe that his
father was largely responsible for the Sutherland Clearances. He has as completely
failed in his object, as he would have failed in an attempt to turn the ocean into dry
land. His book answers itself. By its publication he has, however, challenged fur-
ther discussion of the whole question in dispute.
A valued correspondent, well acquainted with the history and traditions of Suther-
land, oral and written, on seeing an intimation that such a book was forthcoming,
wrote to me as follows : — "I see the Sellars are moved against you for exhibiting the
part their famous father took in the atrocities committed in Sutherland ; that one of
them is to write a book in vindication of their father ! Well, I have heard a fetish,
to wit, that ' a clear-eyed person could distinguish the dust of the righteous from that
of the wicked in the same grave ; that the dust of the former lay still, but in that of
the latter there was a perpetual vermicular motion which prevented its taking rest or
being still.' It would appear that the memory of the unenviable Sellar is doomed to
this endless restlessness. No learning, no literary skill, no power, no wealth, no ducal
influence, can prevent that name going down to posterity otherwise than as an example
to be avoided, a character to be shunned." After detailing various incidents con-
nected with the Sutherland Clearances, he exclaims, " Such is a specimen of the
accounts of Mr Sellar which is handed down from father to son, wherever a Suther-
land man is to be found. And now the public character of this man is to be thatched
with legal technicalities so as to make him appear a just and humane man ! This will
be accomplished when the world is made to believe that Ahab did justly in getting
possession of the vineyard of Naboth. Before this promised book, justifying Mr Sellar,
comes out, I would give the following review of it : — Nine-tenths of Sutherland was
reduced to a wilderness, the inhabitants burnt out as vermin. Of this fact, there is no
doubt, no possible dispute. Who did it ? Earl Gower, the Countess of Sutherland,
Mr Loch, and their most active lieutenant, Mr Sellar. It would be difficult, at this
time of day, to balance the blame fairly between them, but almost all will conclude
536
THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
that Mr Sellar's was not the least of the four. Let them divide the guilt between
them ; each of them will find his own share too much to bear." Hear I, at least, am
satisfied, at present, to leave Mr Sellar and his book.
LORD NAPIER AS CHAIRMAN OF THE ROYAL COMMISSION.
In view of what has been said and written when the Royal Commission was
appointed, and especially of what appears at pp. 150-152 of this book,'I have much
pleasure in acknowledging here the absolutely impartial and searching manner in
which the grievances of the people have been inquired into, hitherto, under the guid-
ance of the noble chairman, Lord Napier and Ettrick, who has not only proved him-
self possessed of the necessary qualifications — impartiality, knowledge of the subject,
and a remarkable patience — for such a responsible and difficult position, but has, at
the same time, exhibited an insight into the whole question of the Inquiry which has
no less surprised than it has gratified the Crofters and their friends. His conduct as
chairman has been in all respects unexceptional, a fact for which he deserves the uni-
versal gratitude of the Highland people at home and abroad.
It would be at present invidious to make special reference to other individual
members of a Commission which, in its corporate capacity, has done its work so well.
This will be in good time when the Inquiry is completed and the report issued.
THE NEW CANADIAN DEPUTY-MINISTER OF THE INTERIOR.—
Mr Alexander M. Burgess, just appointed by the Canadian Government to the high and
responsible office of Dominion Deputy-Minister of the Interior, is a native of Strath-
spey, in the county of Inverness. He is still a young man, who only left the High-
lands a few years ago, to push his fortune in Canada ; the only capital in his
possession being perseverance, steady habits, and natural ability. His present position
is all the more creditable to Mr Burgess, from the fact that he owes it to the political
party whom he had always opposed out of office. He began his career at home by
writing local paragraphs from Strathspey for the Aberdeen Daily Free Press and for the
Elgin Cotirant. Shortly after his arrival in the Dominion he secured a situation on the
reporting staff of the Toronto Globe, in a short time becoming chief of the Parliamentary
staff of that paper in Ottawa. While there he originated and continued to publish the
Canadian Hansard, subsequently becoming proprietor and editor of the Ottawa
Daily Free Press, which he conducted as a Government organ during the Liberal
Administration of the Hon. Alexander Mackenzie. His newspaper venture not prov-
ing successful, Mr Burgess was appointed Private Secretary to Mr David Mills,
Minister of the Interior, and, shortly before the Mackenzie Government retired, he was
appointed to the more responsible office of Permanent Official Secretary in the same
Department. He was continued under Sir John A. Macdonald, who himself holds
the Portfolio of the Interior, and he has now been promoted to the Deputy-Ministry,
with all the responsibility attached to the Interior Department, the Premier, Sir John
A. Macdonald, being only nominal Minister, while the duties have to be performed
by his Deputy. We cordially congratulate Mr Burgess on the position which he has
now secured ; and that he thoroughly deserves it is fully admitted by the Canadian
press of all shades of opinion. The leading Conservative paper in Ottawa, the Daily
Citizen says, before the appointment was actually made: — "During Mr Russell's
[Mr Burgess's predecessor] enforced confinement, the duties of Deputy-Minister have
been ably discharged by Mr Burgess, whose ability, aptitude for work, industry and
thorough knowledge of the affairs of the Department, will receive practical recognition
by his promotion. In anticipation of his elevation to the highest position he can re-
ceive in the Department we tender him our congratulations. Merit was never more
fitly rewarded." We may add that until he entered the office of the Ministry of the
Interior, Mr Burgess was the special Canadian correspondent of the Aberdeen Daily
Free Press at Ottawa ; and that he is married to a daughter of Mr Thomas Anderson,
proprietor and editor of the Banffshire Reporter, published at Portsoy, a lady, like her
husband, of considerable literary ability and culture, and of whose kindly hospitality,
during our late visit to Canada, we have a very pleasant recollection.
537
PROCLAMATION AGAINST ROB ROY MACGREGOR.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
SIR, — I noticed with' much interest the reprint of the above proclamation in
the August Celtic Magazine, and am much indebted to you for reproducing
it. I knew that such a document had been issued about the early portion of 1719
but after very extended researches I was compelled to abandon the quest for it as
hopeless. The copy of it which is thus supplied fills up a gap that I was forced to
leave with regret in my "History of Rob Roy." Your correspondent has not
attempted to show the value of this document as a contribution towards Scottish his-
tory, and I trust you will allow me a little space that I may indicate its importance.
The proclamation against Rob Roy is dated roth March 1719. The date is
worthy of remembrance. Ormonde's expedition, which terminated fatally at Glen-
shiel in the following June, had already set sail from France, and the Hanoverians
were well aware that a rising in the North of Scotland was imminent. Almost in-
stinctively their suspicions fell upon Rob Roy as the man most likely to be concerned
in it, since his activity had kept up the flame of rebellion long after the Jacobite cause
had assumed a hopeless aspect ; and I am convinced that it was the intention of the
Government to direct special measures against him before Ormonde or Marischall could
land, so as to prevent the chief from joining either of them. I found this conviction
upon these facts— (i) The offence alleged against Rob Roy had been committed on
the 28th of January, but no action was taken until the loth of March — after intelli-
gence of Ormonde's expedition had reached London. (2) The crime charged, even if
proved, was a simple criminal offence, which could have been easily dealt with by the
Lord Advocate for Scotland, and did not call for regal interference. Yet the pro-
clamation was dated from " Our Court at St James," as though a murder in Scot-
land could not be punished by ordinary procedure.
It is most interesting to notice the effect of this document upon Rob Roy. The
proclamation was published "at the Mercat Cross of Inverary" on the 27th March
1719, when Rob Roy was in the immediate neighbourhood mustering the Breadalbane
Campbells, the Macgregors, and the Murrays, to join the Spanish Auxiliaries under
Earl Marischall. There can be little doubt that it confirmed him in his resolution to
oppose the Hanoverian rule in Scotland, and showed him that he might expect
neither justice nor mercy from those in authority. It is no slight testimony to the
steadfastness of his adherents that the munificent offers of reward for his apprehension
were powerless to seduce them from their fidelity. " Two Hundred Pounds sterling"
— the price put upon his head by this proclamation — would have been a positive for-
tune in those times to the traitor who should betray him.
One other point is worthy of notice. It is stated in this proclamation that the
cattle which the King's men were following "had been stolen from one Drunkie ; a
tenant of the said Duke of Montrose." This Graham of Drunkie, whom Rob Roy
had possibly despoiled, had a daughter, who afterwards became the wife of Rob's
youngest and favourite son, Robin Og Macgregor, about 1747, but died shortly after
her marriage. This bridal connects in a peculiar manner the rebellions of 1715 and
1745-
538 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
To illustrate the difficulties under which a historical writer labours, who wishes
to indite a complete life of one around whom so many legends have gathered, I may
be pardoned for mentioning a fact which has come to my knowledge since my " His-
tory of Rob Roy" was published. In that work I advance the theory that the Duke
of Montrose, having found it impossible to bribe Rob Roy to betray the Duke of
Argyll, took extreme measures to force him into this treachery. I had not then docu-
mentary evidence to support this theory, but I have since found, in the Eecords of the
Court of Session, that in 1712 the Duke of Montrose presented a petition to that Court
praying that they would cause Rob Roy to be declared an outlaw, as the Duke did not
expect him to appear to answer a summons which was current against him, but not due.
The Court unwillingly granted the petition, but expressed an opinion that it was pre-
mature to ask outlawry for non-appearance before it could be known whether the
defendant would appear or not. Hence it is evident that Rob Roy was proclaimed
an outlaw at the Crosses of the principal towns in Scotland by a most illegal assump-
tion of authority on the part of the Court of Session, solely to please the Duke of
Montrose, atid whilst Macgregor was guiltless either of crime or contempt of court.
The details of this curious legal paradox will be found in Forbes' " Decisions," page
635. — I remain, sir, &c.,
A. H. MILLAR.
DUNDEE, i5th August 1883.
THE HON. ALEXANDER MACKENZIE, EX-PREMIER OF CANADA,
IN INVERNESS. — This distinguished Canadian statesman visited Inverness on
Monday and Tuesday, I3th and I4th of August. He was accompanied by Mrs
Mackenzie ; his brother, Mr James Mackenzie, of Sarnia, and Mrs Mackenzie ;
the Rev. Mr Thomson of the same place, and Mrs Thomson — the Ex-Premier's
daughter. On Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning they were shown over
the places of interest in the town of Inverness and neighbourhood, including the
Town Hall, Free Library and Museum Buildings, the Ness Islands, and Tomna-
hurich Cemetery, by Dean of Guild Mackenzie, after which they were driven
to the Battlefield of Culloden, and the famous stone circles at Clava, by Mr Kenneth
Macdonald, Town-Clerk of Inverness ; accompanied by Dean of Guild Mackenzie,
Editor of the Celtic Magazine ; Councillor W. G. Stuart ; Mr James Barren, Editor
of the Inverness Courier; and Mr Wallace, Rector of the High School; returning in
the afternoon to Roseheath, the Town-Clerk's residence, where Mrs Macdon-
ald entertained the party to dinner. In the evening they called on Dean of Guild
and Mrs Mackenzie, in Academy Street. On Wednesday morning they proceeded on
the return journey by the Caledonian Canal steamer, "Gondolier." Mr Mackenzie
and his friends had completed an extended Continental tour, principally through
Italy and France, and they return to Canada by the Allan liner, "Circassian,"
leaving Liverpool on the 3Oth of August. It will be remembered that the Freedom
of the Burgh was conferred on Mr Mackenzie during his visit to Inverness two years
ago.
"THE HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS," and other contributions, are unavoidably
held over until cur next issue.
THE
CELTIC MAGAZINE.
CONDUCTED UY
ALEXANDER MACKENZIE, F.S.A., Scot.
No. XCVI. OCTOBER 1883. VOL. VIII.
THE HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS.
By the EDITOR.
IX.
SIR EWEN CAMERON— Continued.
LOCHIEL, at the age of eighteen, was received by his clans-
men, and conducted home with great pomp amid the greatest
enthusiasm. When his people met him, a day's journey from
Lochaber, they were gratified to find that he even exceeded the
flattering accounts which had reached them regarding him, and
they were still more delighted to find that, notwithstanding his
upbringing and education under Argyll's influence, he still
adhered to the political and patriotic principles of his ancestors.
His biographer informs us that, at this time, he was " health-
ful and full of spirits, and grown up to the height of man, though
somewhat slender. Though he had made no progress in letters,
yet his natural quickness, and the polite company among whom
he had the good fortune to be bred so formed his behaviour and
polished his conversation, that he seemed to anticipate several
years of his age. The truth is, the want of an academical educa-
tion was an advantage to him, whatever losses he might after-
wards sustain by that defect ; and the reason is obvious, for the
time employed on words and terms is of no further advantage
than as it lays a foundation for the nobler acquisition of sub-
stantial knowledge ; and before youth advance to any tolerable
2 M
540 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
reflection they commonly exceed that age ; and in place of a just
and solid reasoning they acquire crude and undigested notions
which renders them disagreeably conceited and self-sufficient."
He then proceeds to reason that as teachers generally are more
conversant with books than with men, it is no wonder if they are
somewhat stiff and pedantic in their manners and conversation ;
and it is natural to those brought up under such influences to
imitate, in these respects, those by whom, in their youth, they are
taught; and experience shows that several years must pass before
they can entirely lay aside the habits contracted under such
influences in early life; " but as Lochiel," he continues, " had the
misfortune not to be troubled with books, by the iniquity of the
times, so his early introduction with good company gave him
this advantage above those of his years, that he was sooner ripe
for company and action, and more adroit in the exercises
befitting a gentleman, wherein the Marquis was very careful to
have him trained by expert masters," very much to his credit,
when we consider the circumstances of the times.
Lochiel's principal amusement was hunting, of which he was
keenly fond. He destroyed all the wolves which then largely
infested his own country, and he is said to have killed, with his
own hand, the last wolf seen in the Highlands of Scotland. In
pursuit of his favourite amusement he exposed himself to
continual hardships and fatigue, which only made him the more
vigorous and robust, acquiring strength and experience which
well fitted his constitution of body and mind for the many diffi-
culties and dangers which he had to go through afterwards in his
long and remarkable career. He kept Colonel Cameron, who
commanded the party of the clan who joined Montrose, con-
stantly about him. This officer, who had secured for himself a
high reputation for gallantry, and had been repeatedly wounded
in the recent war, related to his young chief the leading events
and incidents of the campaign. These Lochiel listened to with
great interest, and he was so charmed with the story and with the
valour and general conduct of his brave clansmen, exhibited dur-
ing the war, that he succeeded in procuring a life-pension for their
commander from Charles II. On hearing the Colonel's relation
of the distinguished gallantry and valour of the great Montrose,
Lochiel keenly bewailed his own misfortune for having missed
the opportunity of serving under such a commander and being
HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS. 541
trained in such a noble school; and he often expressed the hope
that the illustrious hero would soon again lead his countrymen
in the cause of his king-, in which event the youthful Lochiel
declared his resolve to join him at the head of his brave clansmen.
The first opportunity which Lochiel had of leading his clan
in the field was in a raid against Macdonald of Keppoch, who,
dispising our hero on account of his youth, and the indifference
of his uncle, who still continued his guardian, refused to pay
an annuity payable by him on a mortgage which Lochiel held
over Glen-Roy. Preparations were made by the Camerons to
enforce payment. Lochiel gathered his men, placed himself at
their head, and invaded the Keppoch country with several hun-
dred resolute followers. Macdonald, though he at first deter-
mined and prepared to oppose the invaders, finding them re-
solute and well led, deemed it prudent to arrange peaceable
terms, and Lochiel's claims were at once admitted and made
good. A similar dispute arose between him and Glengarry, who
refused to pay a feu of superiority payable by him to the head
of the House of Lochiel for the lands of Knoydart. This matter
was also amicably arranged, and a treaty entered into which
Glengarry faithfully carried out in every particular. These in-
cidents establish the fact that Lochiel's great qualities as a
soldier and a leader of men was recognised by his turbulent
neighbours even at this early age.
For a considerable time after this nothing remarkable seems
to have occurred either in his history or in that of his people.
The author of the Memoirs states that " Lochiel had, all this
time, the pleasure to see his people happy in a profound peace,
while the rest of the kingdom groaned under the most cruel
tyranny that ever scourged the afflicted sons of men. The jails
were crammed full of innocent people, in order to furnish our
governors with blood-sacrifices wherewith to feast their eyes ;
the scaffolds daily smoked with the blood of our best patriots ;
anarchy swayed with an uncontroverted authority, and avarice,
cruelty, and revenge seemed to be Ministers of State. The bones
of the dead were digged out of their graves, and their living
friends were compelled to ransom them at exorbitant sums.
. . . . Every parish had a tyrant, who made the greatest
lord in his district stoop to his authority. The Kirk was the
place where he kept his court ; the pulpit his throne, or tribunal,
542 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
from whence he issued out his terrible decrees; and1 twelve or
fourteen sour, ignorant enthusiasts, under the title of elders,
composed his councils. If any, of what quality soever, had the
assurance to disobey his edicts, the dreadful sentence of excom-
munication was immediately thundered against him, his goods
and chatties confiscated and seized, and he, himself, being looked
upon as actually in possession of the devil, and irretrievably
doomed to perdition, all that conversed with him were in no
better esteem." The history of those times is already too well
known to require recapitulation here. Fearful excesses were
resorted to on both sides. We shall not attempt to show in
whose favour the balance turned. The subject is repulsive in
the extreme, but we confess a preference for the Patriots of those
days than for the Kirk. The former were honest, though pos-
sibly mistaken in supporting a worthless king. The Kirk was
dishonest, hypocritical, and intolerant, though the nation ulti-
mately benefitted, in spite of their godless cant and their cruel
persecution of far better men than those of whom the Establish-
ment of the day was generally composed.
It is quite unnecessary to discuss here the mean conduct of
the clergy in their dealings with and recall of, perhaps, their
almost equally mean, and worthless king. The particulars of the
second expedition of Montrose, his capture, and execution, are
well known ; but it may be stated that, when his sentence
was read to him, he declared that he was so far from being
troubled at his head being ordered to be hung on the Tolbooth
of Edinburgh, and his limbs in conspicuous places in four of the
principal cities of the kingdom, that " he heartily wished that he
had flesh enough to be sent to every city in Christendom as a
testimony of the cause for which he suffered." Such a magni-
ficence and nobility of spirit had no counterpart among his
enemies.
The king was now in the hands of the Kirk. In 1650 he
sent the following letter, directed on the back : —
" To oitr Right Twisty, and Right Well-beloved Eivcn Cameron of Loch ci II, and to the
rest of the Gentlemen and Friends of the Name of Cameron.
" CHARLES R.
"Right Trusty and Well-beloved Cousin, and Trusty and Well -beloved, wee
greet you well. The condition and calamity of this Kingdom cannot but be too well
HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS. 543
known unlo you. Ane insolent enemy having gott so great ane advantage against the
forces that were raised for the defence of it, and having overrun the parts upon the
South sides of the Forth and the Clyde, and having of late also gotten into their hands
the Castle of Edinburgh, by the treachery of those that commanded in it ; which city
they before desolated, ruined the church, and maliciously and insolently burnt our
Palace there. These injureys, and the maney other grievious pressures lying upon our
good subjects in the South, East, and Western Shyrs, cry alowd for relief, assistance,
and revenge. Therefore we have, with the Estates of our Parliament, been consulting
and adviseing for remedys ; and have emited the act of levey which comes to your
Shyrs, and which we thought fitt to accompaney with our oun letter : Conjureing and
desireing you, by all the bands of your duty to God, love to your country, and respect
to our person, that you will speedily and effectwally rise and putt yourselves in arms
for the relief of your distressed brethren, and to revenge their bloodshed by the sword
in diverse corners of the countrey ; besides the multitudes starved to death in prissons,
and famished and dying every day for want of bread in each town and village. These
things, we know well, exceedingly affect you ; therefore we will not lay any thing
more before you but our own resolutions, which is, either, by the blessing and assist-
ance of God, to remedy and recover these evils and losses, revenge what these insolent
enemys have crewelly and wickedly done, vindicate this hitherto unconquered Nation
from the ignominy and reproach it lyes under ; or to lay down our life in the under-
taking, and not to survive the mine of our people, for whose protection and defence
we would give, if we had them, as many lives as we have subjects. And we are
assured and perswaded you will not be wanting in your duties, but will chearfully
come to offer your lives for the defence of your Religion, your Countrey, your King,
your own honours, your wives, your children, your liberty, and will be worthy your
forefathers and predecessors, and like them in their virtue, and brave defending their
countrey. Wee will, therefore, in assurance you will strive who shall be soonest in
sight of the enemy, march with the present forces we have towards Stirling (where the
nixt assault will certainly be), and either make good that place till you come to us, or
die upon the place ; and if the handfull we carrey with us shall be overborn by greater
numbers throwgh your slackness in comeing to our assistance, you will have the shame
that yow have not already come upon the call of a redoubled defeat given to your
naturall and covenanted brethren, and that yow have not now used extraordinary
dilligencc, being so earnestly prest by your King on his part. Hut we confidently
expect from yow all imaginable expressions and effects of duty, dilligence, loyalty,
and courage. And so we bid yow heartily fail-well. Given att our Court att Perth,
the 24th of December 1650, and in the second year of our reign."
In response to this Royal Message Lochiel declared his in-
tention of joining the King with a body of his clansmen early in
the following Spring, but finding great difficulty in raising them,
as many of his name lived on the lands of others, he applied to
the Marquis of Argyll, through whom he obtained a warrant,
from the Committee of Estates, empowering hfm to raise his
clansmen wherever he could find them. Meantime the Scottish
army, of which the King was nominal Commander was defeated
by Cromwell at Invcrkcithing, and a report of this disaster was
communicated to Lochiel as he was on his march to join the
544 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
Royal Standard, at the head of a thousand of his clansmen. In
the spring of 1652 he was the first of the Highland chiefs who
joined the Earl of Glencairn, with a body of seven hundred brave
followers, afterwards considerably augmented by fresh arrivals
from Lochaber. Lochiel having received a Colonelcy in this army,
soon had an opportunity of displaying his metal, and of giving
the first example of his bravery and courage in the field. " He
was always the first that offered himself in any dangerous piece
of service, and, in all that he undertook, acquited himself with
such conduct and valour that he gained great glory and reputa-
tion ;" and he, soon after joining Glencairn, found himself and his
men in a position where they narrowly escaped from the imminent
danger of being cut to pieces by the enemy, under Colonel
Lilburn, then newly appointed Commander in succession to Monk
and Colonel Dean. Lochiel was at this date, in 1652, only twenty
years old.
Glencairn encamped with his army at Tullich, in Braemar,
and Lochiel and his men were posted at a pass, which lay at
some distance, to prevent the Earl being surprised by the enemy,
who were possessed of a garrison within a few miles of him.
Lochiel placed out guards and sentries at proper places, often
visiting them in person ; and, notwithstanding his youth, acted
the part of a vigilant and prudent officer. Early next morning,
as he was sending for orders from the General, his scouts returned
in great haste, informing him that the enemy were advancing at
a smart pace, but they could not inform him of their exact
number. Having ordered his men from their several posts, he
ascended a hill near him, where he had a full view of the enemy.
Lilburn, who was there in person, with his whole army, having
made a halt to form his troops, gave Lochiel time enough to
advise Glencairn of the position of affairs. Glencairn at once
retreated to a morass or bog two miles away, where he secured
himself from the enemy's horse, of which he was most afraid, but
in the confusion he forgot to send Lochiel orders to retire.
Lochiel, finding himself in this position, smartly posted his
men so advantageously that he not only sustained the attack of
the enemy, who charged his followers with great fury, but drove
them back several times with considerable loss. Half of his men
were armed with bows ; and these he posted against the enemy's
horse. The men were excellent archers, and seldom missed their
HISTORY OF THE CAMERONS. 545
aim, galling the foe intensely with their unerring arrows. The
ground was rugged and uneven, and covered with much snow,
which not only rendered the cavalry comparatively useless, but
made the position much more difficult for the foot regiments.
Further, he could only be attacked in one place, posted, as he was,
in a narrow pass between two high mountains. These advantages
abated much of the fury of the English ; and Lochiel, concluding,
in spite of their superiority of numbers, that they were not in-
vincible, drew out two hundred of his men, who, in the situation
in which they were then placed, he could not otherwise employ ;
and having ordered a competent officer to maintain the pass with
the remainder of his force, he, at the head of this band, charged
a body of the enemy, who were separated from the main body
by a hill, quickly broke them, and threw them into confusion ;
but having no men to support him, and afraid of being surrounded,
he deemed it prudent not to pursue his advantage farther.
The English General, perceiving that he could not force the
pass so gallantly defended by Lochiel, and angry at the loss of
his men whom the Highlanders killed without much danger to
themselves, drew off about half his troops, and being conducted
by guides, who he brought with him, took a round of the hills,
and managed to get between Lochiel and the main army under
Glencairn ; but by this time, Lochiel's Quarter-Master, whom he
had sent after Glencairn for orders, happening to return, in-
timated that his lordship was now in complete security, and that he
ordered the Camerons to retreat as best they could ; whereupon
the young chief retired gradually up the hill, facing the enemy—
who dare not pursue him, on account of the roughness of the
ground and the snow that covered it — on both sides. The pass
being thus opened as Lochiel retired, Lilburn drew up his men
and marched towards the Highland army ; but finding that he
could not force an engagement as they were then posted, and
the season of the year not admitting of his continuing in the
field, he fell back and returned to Inverness, where he then had
his head-quarters. On his way he placed strong garrisons in
the Castles of Ruthven and others in which he deemed this
necessary for his purpose. Lochiel followed him for several
miles, and whenever the ground favoured, he harrassed him on his
march, killing several of his men and horse. Having finally seen
546 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
the English fairly out of the district he returned in triumph to
Glencairn, who received him with open arms, and congratulated
him as the deliverer of the Highland Army. The conflict had
lasted for several hours, and though Lochiel had a few of his
men killed and several wounded, the enemy lost six times as many
men, as well as several horses. In the following spring, Glen-
cairn again took the field, but his army soon melted away. The
leaders became divided among themselves, and there was con-
sequently little chance of success against the enemy ; but though
he dared not engage in a general battle, he constantly harrassed
Lilburn and his army, repelling his attacks, beating up his
quarters, burning and destroying several of his garrisons.
Lochiel kept himself clear of any faction at head-quarters,
and to enable him to do so he always chose the most distant
posts, where he had the additional advantage and pleasure of
being more frequently in action against the enemy than any one
else ; and the invariable success of his arms on these occasions
made the General in command very willing to employ and give
him the opportunities, which he so much courted, of measuring
swords with the English. That his services were appreciated and
acknowledged in high quarters will be seen by perusing the
following letter from the King : —
" To our Trusty and Well-beloved the Lainl oj Lochcill.
"CHARLES R.
" Trusty and Well-beloved, wee greet yow well. We are informed by the Earl
of Glencairn with what notable courage and affection to us yow have beheaved your-
self at this time of tryall, when our interest, and the honour and liberty of your coun-
trey, is at stake ; and, therefore, we cannot but express our hearty sense of such your
good courage, and return yow our princely thanks for the same. And we hope all
honest men, who are lovers of us or their countrey, will follow your example, and that
yow will unite together in the wayes we have directed ; and under that authority we
have appointed to conduct yow, for the prosecution of so good a work. So we doe
assure yow we shall be ready, as soone as we are able, signally to reward your service,
and to repair the losses yow shall undergoe for our service ; and so wee bid yow fair-
well. Given att Chantilly, the 3rd day of November 1653, in the fifth year of our
reign."
Soon after this Lochiel was obliged to return home to defend his
own country, information having reached him that it was to be
invaded by the English army from Inverness.
(To be continued.)
547
THE ETHICS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY.
VIII. — DISTRIBUTIVE JUSTICE — (Continued.)
WHAT is labour ? This question may sound very strange in the
ears of those who are accustomed to limit its meaning to mere
manual labour. They, very properly, accept it as a truth that
value consists in labour, and, by an easy transition, the working
classes, who have been taught by the doctrinaires of a material-
istic political economy, more intent upon crabbed theories than
upon any true philosophy, have been led to think and believe
that mere manual exertion possesses the only real value in the
conduct and course of social life. Hence arises that communism
which would reduce a highly organised society to the low level
of the brute creation, under the idea that equality ought to mean
an equal division of the products of industry, so that they would
reinstitute, if they could, the public tables of Spartan life. Yet
it is not to be wondered at that inequalities which arise from
the exercise of power and privilege should create in the minds of
those who feel themselves pressed down by this felt injustice the
same revulsion of feeling which in all ages of the world produced
the opposite extremes of license and plunder.
Those who are engaged in the production of the necessaries
of life, and who toil hard upon very little pay, feel a not unnatural
jealousy of those who obtain an easy, or an apparently easy,
living by the exertion of very little bodily labour, and come to
the conclusion that this arises from an unjust distribution of the
proceeds of the produce of labour. In many cases, even outside
the question of rent and taxes, no doubt this feeling is founded
on just grounds of complaint ; but, on the other hand, a great
misconception obtains among the. working classes regarding the
relative merits of the various services, or kinds of labour, by
which the intricate machinery of society is worked. It is evident,
for instance, that the skilled labourer deserves to be better
rewarded than the unskilled. So also with regard to the labour
of those who are engaged in the business of exchange, as these
require a higher education, and in most cases serve a longer
apprenticeship to fit them for their various callings and positions
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of trust. Then again with regard to professional men, such as
clergymen, physicians, lawyers, literarymen, schoolmasters, and
public servants of various grades. The use of the word labour
in political economy does not appear to embrace such services
as I have enumerated, and thus, by narrowing its application to
the work of material production, it has had a misleading effect ;
for it is evident that it ought to embrace all human services
necessary to society in economic life. It, therefore, means effort
of brain and body in the pursuit of an honest livelihood. But
then what is it that constitutes, or tends to establish, a natural
ratio between the mere labour, or physical force, of the common
digger, or field labourer, and all the different grades of society?
This question will perhaps be better answered after we have
enquired into and examined
WHAT CONSTITUTES CAPITAL?
There is no term in political economy which has been so
much hackneyed, mangled, and misapplied as the word capital,
and no portion of Mr Henry George's book has done so much
service to the cause of truth as the chapter in which he treats of
this subject, which, indeed, is of itself sufficient to give a new
direction to the current of thought. I have already pointed out,
perliaps in too unsparing language, certain theories of this now
celebrated author, and I find myself again obliged to vary his
definitions and to enlarge their scope. I will not weary the
reader by going over the field of discussion point by point It
is only necessary to mention that the confusion of the economists
arises from attempts to particularise all the things which are
embraced under the very comprehensive term capital. After
comparing the definitions of various economists, and exposing
them to a degree of ridicule, Mr George falls back upon and
agrees with Adam Smith, except in so far as that distinguished
philosopher included in his classification " the acquired and use-
ful abilities of all the inhabitants." * Now, to my mind, this shows
* The passage referred to is as follows : — Fourthly, of the acquired and useful abili-
ties of all the inhabitants or members of the society. The acquisition of such talents,
by the maintainence of the acquirer during his education, study, or apprenticeship,
always costs a real expense, which is a capital fixed and realised, as it were, in his
person. Those talents, as they make a part of his forlune, so do they likewise of that
ETHICS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. 549
how vastly superior, not only in comprehensiveness, but also in
detail, the Scotch philosopher was to all his successors, and how
well he had thought out his subject. Mr George does not seem
to apprehend that the origin of the word has reference to the
human head, which is capital par excellence.
THE ANALOGY OF THE HUMAN BRAIN.
Mr George makes use of a very happy expression when he
says that capital is "labour stored up in materiality," but it is
necessary, for more exactness, to correct that definition by saying
that created wealth is labour stored up in materiality, and capital
is that part of it which is employed reproductively, whatever the
occupation may be. He also makes what appears to be a good
point in showing that wages are not, as is commonly asserted,
paid out of capital, because, for instance, the shoemaker delivers
the pair of shoes before he receives his wages, and the master
shoemaker merely makes a transfer entry in his book by crediting
cash and debiting stock, in which case, of course, both cash and
stock form parts of his capital. The important point, however, to
keep in view is that labour and capital are interdependent, the
first antecedent and the other consequent. Not only so, but
being both force, they are of tJie same generic nature, and we find
capital going about seeking employment, like the most industrious
workman, for, if standing idle, it receives no wages.
Impressed with the same idea as the House of Lords that
value resides in the " natural capabilities" of the soil, Mr George
discusses^at some length the cause of interest, and, to make good
his point, he assigns it to the increase of nature, as, for instance,
the lamb becoming a sheep. Therefore, if you borrow a lamb of
one year it would be hardly fair to return a lamb of the same age
next year, for the one which you borrowed has by that time grown
into a sheep. Now, this seems very plausible, but it is quite an
illusion. Interest is the wages of capital, and it would be just as
wise to discuss the cause of the wages of the workman, for the
cause is one and the same. For example, let us embody capital
of the society to which he belongs. The improved dexterity of a workman may be
considered in the same light as a machine or instrument of trade which facilitates
and abridges labour, and which, though it costs a certain expense, repays that expense
with profit."
550 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
and call it Brobdig, and suppose a thousand workmen employing
Jiiin, if you will, whom we shall call Lilliputs. They have to
weld an intractable piece of iron and say, " Now, Brobdig, for a
blow," and down comes Brobdig, with his steam fist, and squelches
in an instant what might take the Lilliputs a whole day. That
is capital. Now, is Brobdig not worthy of his wages ?
Mr Barnum's capital is invested in elephants for amusement,
but this magnificent animal is very largely employed in India, as
force, dragging and piling timber. One of them will perform the
work of a hundred coolies, but his wages is in about the same
proportion to the work performed ; the advantage in favour of
employing the elephant being that he does his work in less time
and more effectually.
But I am more concerned about illustrating the far-reaching
proposition of the " Wealth of Nations," and vindicating the pro-
found genius of the author. By and by it will be necessary to show
in what respect land is capital and in what respect it is not; but for
the purpose of illustration, as well as to prove the truth of Adam
Smith's definition, let us now consider the analogy of the human
brain, and see how labour is stored up in it, and becomes capital.
Man does not live by bread alone, and the advancement of society
depends more upon the cultivation of the brain than upon the
cultivation of the soil. That incomprehensible organism, with its
two hemispheres, is not only the emanation of the genius of an
intelligent first cause, and possessed, under limitation, of some of
his divine attributes in order to subdue the worser part ; but it
is also the reflex and full diapason of all nature — man, as the
learned ancients conceived, summarising in himself all the laws of
the world. The brain is power, like the soil, but it has no value.
What ! the human brain has no value ? No, the brain of the Lord
Chancellor has no value. It is power, which is the gift of God,
and who has restricted the rewards to labour alone. The respect
in which the Lord Chancellor's brain has value consists in the
labour he has bestowed upon its cultivation, and the effort required
for mastering the logic of the law being of the highest order, he is
deservedly the highest paid minister of the Crown.
But let us take another case to illustrate Adam Smith's
doctrine, which will also help to show us the cause of the ratio
between labour and capital, or, in other words, the difference of
ETHICS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. 551
remuneration between simple manual labour, into which the cul-
tivation of the brain does not enter, and that labour in which is
combined the capital deposited in the brain, along with the physi-
cal exertion of the capitalist It is the case of that useful member
of society and friend of humanity — the physician. During his
seven years curriculum, he has not only laboured hard with the
implements of knowledge on the cultivation of his brain, but he
has also paid for books and fees, besides a large sum for his sup-
port. Is that not capital ?
Having given the above illustrations, it will now be seen
that justice, consisting, as Aristotle says, in something propor-
tional, the perfection of which is in a mean, there must be a basis
in commutative justice upon which to found the ratio, and that
appears to be the wages of the common man, or unskilled
labourer, which is the real measure of value. The wages of
capital can be always ascertained by the average current rate of
interest. It is, however, unnecessary to amplify on this part of
the subject in this connection, as our inquiry concerns the real
nature of capital. Its functions will be easily understood, if we
can grasp what the thing really is. In many cases the best way
to ascertain what a thing is, is first to clear the ground by show-
ing what it is not, and for that purpose I make the following
quotation from Mr Fawcett's Manual. In doing so, it is only just
to that eminent practical economist to mention that he merely
repeats the reasoning of Mr Mill, and I quote Mr Fawcett, as he
has recently published an amended chapter of his work, and
must, therefore, be still occupied in thinking over the science.
Mr Fawcett commends himself to our sympathy and esteem in a
way which no living public man can do, and in using the sharp
weapons of controversy towards him, I must avow my un-
bounded respect for his person and character. He says —
"Since capital is the result of saving, it is often erroneously considered that
capital is wealth which is set aside with the object of not being spent ; but this is a
fundamental misconception, for capital cannot fulfil any of its functions except by
being wholly or partially consumed. Thus, capital provides the fund from which the
wages of labour are paid, and these wages are of course consumed in ministering to
the wants of the labourer, and in supplying him with all the various necessaries of
life. If a man has so much wheat, it is wealth which may at any moment be em-
ployed as capital ; but this wheat is not made capital by being hoarded, it becomes
capital when it feeds the labourers, and it cannot feed the labourers unless it is con-
sumed. These considerations apply to capital existing even in a more permanent
I
552 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
form, such as machinery. All machines must in a time wear out ; a steam engine,
durable as it may appear, is only capable of performing so much work ; but a steam
engine is capital, because it assists the production of wealth, and, therefore, it only
fulfils the function of capital when it is in motion ; but every hour that it is kept in
motion contributes somewhat to its ultimate wearing out. It is, therefore, manifest
that all the wealth of the country, in whatever form it may be, can only perform the
functions of capital by being wholly or partially consumed. The capital of a country
is constantly being consumed in order to produce more wealth, and, therefore, capital
is maintained by perpetual re-production, and not by hoarding and keeping wealth
out of consumption. It will be, perhaps, useful to our readers if we
give one or two practical applications of the laws of capital which have been enun-
ciated in this chapter. One such application is suggested by considering the rapidity
with which a country recovers from the ravages of a disastrous war. This phenomenon
was first elucidated by Dr Chalmers. A conqueror over-runs a country, and destroys
every vestige of accumulated wealth which he can discover. A great portion of the
food with which the labourers were to be fed is gone: machinery and other appliances
with which industry is assisted are destroyed. The capital of the country appears to
be almost lost, and when it is remembered that the future production of wealth de-
pended upon this capital, it might be supposed that the production would cease, and
that the country must for years remain the same desolate waste. But, on the contrary,
countries which have been thus ravaged and pillaged, have in a few years revived, and
seemed to be as prosperous as before. The history of Athens, and the French wars
in the Palatinate, afford many striking examples of a rapid recovery from the devasta-
tion of war. The remarkable rapidity with which ¥ ranee recovered her commercial
and financial prosperity after the conclusion of the war with Germany in 1870-71 is
another example in point."
On reading the foregoing remarkable discourse, the first
thing that will occur to the reader is that no distinction appears
to be drawn between wealth and capital. Capital may be wealth,
but wealth may not be capital. Adam Smith drew a distinction
between value in use and value in exchange ; but the economists,
it should seem, cannot recognise the difference, and consequently
make no distinction between wealth and capital.
To say that capital is the result of saving, appears, on the
face of it, a very negative proposition, which amounts to an ab-
surdity when we are told that it must be consumed in order to
become an efficient. Following the analogy which I have
already drawn, it should seem that the Lord Chancellor must
consume his own head in order to replace his capital ; and I must
swallow the spade which I made before I can turn it into capital.
The spade would seem to be the result of my saving and not of
my labour! I have hitherto acted on the belief that I have been
living on my wages and profits, and consuming commodities and
not my capital. The human race is increasing, and so is capital.
ETHICS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. 553
We do not require the economists to tell us that if there was no
consumption there would be no reproduction. If the earth had
not been prepared for man it would probably have remained, like
the moon, without an atmosphere and without vegetation. The
wheat merchant buys as fast as he sells ; but if any one were to
tell him that he must consume his capital in order to replace it,
he would not regard that person as a philosopher. In like
manner, the railway company, the shipowner, and manufacturer, if
told that they must consume the railway, the ships, and the
machinery in order to replace them, they would be very likely to
exclaim, " Strange doctrine this ! We have hitherto misunder-
stood our business." The enquiry is surely into the efficient cause
of its existence, and not into its conservation. Mr Fawcett may
not have studied book-keeping, but what has become of his logic?
This thing which has come into existence by being saved must be
consumed in order to become an efficient!
Capital lives and increases upon that on which it feeds —
labour ; and the duration of its natural life will be probably co-
existent with the human race, but the economists have given it
the life of a phcenix, which must be consumed so that it may grow
again out of its own ashes. The capitals of states represent
enormous accumulations of the force of labour, but it must seem
that London has to be consumed in order that it may rise again,
like a phcenix out of its own ashes, by means of saving !
The argument is a momentous one. It resolves itself into
this: whether you are to believe God's truth or the devil's logic.
I may here remind the intelligent reader that it is of a piece with
Mr Mill's logic of negation, by which he attempts to prove that
natural phenomena are the results of the laws of blind matter,
self-acting, without an intelligent law-giver, or first cause.
Now, let it be observed that labour and capital are
forces, and that saving proceeds from a moral attribute — human
prudence. From this we see the close analogy there is between
the physical and moral world ; for the conservation of labour in
the shape of wealth and capital is in strict analogy with the con-
servation of energy in nature. We, therefore, argue that the con-
servation of energy in nature is the result of Divine wisdom.
In the case of the grain merchant, what he really deals in is
the force of labour and capital which produced the grain, the
554 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
amount of which is estimated in the labour of the digger, and to
which he adds the value of his own labour in the distribution, with
the wages of his capital, so that he lives upon these two wages
which we call profit.
In the case of capital being destroyed by the ravages of war,
it is evident that it can only be replaced by the same means as those
by which it was originally created — labour and thrift, physical
effort and human prudence. The inhabitants, finding themselves
despoiled and impoverished, put forth a greater effort, and subject
themselves to greater self-denial, until they find themselves again
in the same state of comfort as they were in before the war, but if
the war had not taken place this wealth would be still greater
and their taxes less oppressive. If the argument is worth any-
thing, it is, perhaps, to the landlords, who are fond of war, as they
have been led to believe that war and pestilence are God's ordin-
ances for keeping down the increase of population, but, of course,
these are the hard truths of political science, which, according to
Mr Fawcett, is wrongfully accused of being hard-hearted. I am
not sure that its benevolent theories have been productive of any
good, but rather the contrary, in the Highlands of Scotland.
But this exposition might fail to carry conviction, if I could
not point out the cause of the confusion. The first cause arises
from viewing things in an inverse order, which is a subtile cause
of confusion, such as we observe when viewing a landscape
through an inverting telescope; things appear upside down. As
land is prior to labour, and as " the school " place value in it, they
regard capital as prior to labour also. There is likewise another
reason for this inversion. Rent, in the hands of private individuals,
is an inverse proportional, and not having eliminated it as a
labour residuum , which, in the hands of the State, and accruing to
society, would become a direct proportional, the economists could
not construct a logical science.
DEPRECIATION.
It does not appear to form any part of the " dismal" science
to observe and interpret physical phenomena, as hitherto no
notice appears to have been taken of the phenomenon of depre-
ciation, which forms a very important account in the books of
commercial firms. Mr Fawcett confounds this phenomenon with
ETHICS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY. 555
consumption. " So long as the Coloseum stands, so long will
Rome stand," is a trite saying in the " Eternal City," and, act-
ing upon that superstition, successive Popes have been patching
it up, but the Coloseum goes on depreciating all the same.
The ship, which is built of iron that has been conserved in
the earth for eons of time, depreciates, so does the granite
house, and so do all the works of man. This depreciation, as well
as the tear and wear of machines and roads, must be made up
by labour. Nothing of human invention stands against the ero-
sion of time. Even if capital did not deserve its wages, this
phenomenon of depreciation would account for interest Why,
for instance, is a man reluctant to lend his carriage ? To all ap-
pearance, it is returned in as good a condition as when lent, yet
a certain fraction of depreciation has taken place which must be
made up for by human labour. Time is a great factor in human
life. Not only must man work for his daily requirements ; he
must also provide against the erosion of time. The granite house
depreciates, but the superficies upon which it is built appreciates.
So that man may never be wholly exempted from the necessity
to labour, all his works depreciate. It is only the works and
ordinances of God that appreciate, and man endowed with a
great labour faculty and genius for invention goes on appreciating
whilst his works go on depreciating.
Labour, then, is human effort in pursuit of a livelihood, and
it is by the exchange of these efforts that economic society is
constituted. Capital, as has been explained, is of the same
generic nature, created by, and auxilliary to, human effort.
Therefore, Labour and Capital are Force, and it is Force only
that has value. All natural Powers are, thus, gratuitous, for
if they were otherwise who is entitled to represent the Great
Author and make a charge for them ?
But whilst all others are under the law of labour and de-
preciation, the landlord not only claims exemption from human
effort in the service of society, but he also claims the apprecia-
tion.
Having thus resolved Value into Effort and Force, we must
next inquire into " What are Power and Wealth ?"
MALCOLM MACKENZIE.
Guernsey.
2 N
556 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
"PEER-MEN," AND SOME OF THEIR RELATIONS.
THE following interesting paper, originally delivered by Mr
James Linn, of the Geological Survey, Keith, at the annual
meeting of the Scientific Societies and Field Clubs, held in Banff
on the 4th of August, has since been re-written and extended
for the Celtic Magazine. Mr Linn exhibited, on that occasion,
the various specimens referred to in the paper : —
Till very recent times it was not at all usual in country houses to have burning
continuously any means of light, other than the fire, through the long dark evenings
and mornings which, in our latitude, we have for a great part of the year. In earlier
times too, night was not so much used either for work or for amusements as it now i?>
and as it could be only when artificial means of lighting became more easily available,
cheaper, and more effective. Hence it is that in our time " night is turned into day"
to so great an extent. Even in lower latitudes where at all seasons of the year the day-
light is sufficiently long for a reasonable amount of work, a change in the same direction
seems to be going on. In regard to this growing tendency to turn night into day,
" An Old Technologist," in a valuable article " On Artificial Light " in the "Journal
of Science " for February 1883, remarks that, " It is singular that among the points
which the advocates of thrift systematically overlook, the excessive outlay for artificial
light should be included. Would we, or could we, once more make noon the middle
of the day we should compass an annual economy of some millions sterling."
However brightly the fire might blaze, and however well it might light up the
room, or the part of the room immediately around it, it had the disadvantage of being
a fixed light, and its light often could not be shed sufficiently, if at all, on the spot
where it was specially wanted. Besides, the fire was usually on the hearth. How-
ever, in story, song, and poem, it is almost always the fire that is spoken of as the
means of lighting, as in "The Cotter's Saturday Night" : —
" The cheerfu' supper done, wi' serious face,
They round the ingle form a circle wide:
The sire turns o'er wi patriarchal grace,
The big ha'-Bible ance his father's pride.''
In " The Spinnin' Wheel, " by Robert Nicoll, we have : —
" The auld wife by the ingle sits, an draws her cannie thread:
It hauds her baith in milk an' meal, an' a' thing she can need:
An gleesome scenes o' early days upon her spirit steal
Brought back to warm her withered heart by Scotland's spinnin' wheel."
In England it was much the same, as the following from " The Farmer's Boy," by
Robert Bloomfield, will show : —
" Him, though the cold may pierce and storms molest,
Succeeding hours shall cheer with warmth and rest;
Gladness to spread, and raise the grateful smile,
He hurls the faggot bursting from the pile,
" PEER-MEN," AND THEIR RELATIONS. 547
And many a log and rifted trunk conveys
To heap the fire and wide extend the blaze,
That quivering strong through every opening flies,
Whilst smoky columns unobstructed rise.
* * * *
Flat on the hearth the glowing embers lie
And flames reflected dance in every eye :
There the long billet, forced at last to bend,
While gushing sap froths out at either end,
Throws round its welcome heat."
" The fire fair-blazing," "the ingle," " the hearth," "his wee bit ingle blinkin'
bonnily," and like expressions we meet with again and again in pictures of domestic
life during the winter evenings. Reference to other means of lighting are very rare,
and yet other means there certainly were. Every district, according to its situation and
circumstances, had its own peculiar lighting appliances. In one district we may find
the burning of oil of some kind through a wick of cotton threads, or of narrow
stripes of cotton rag twisted together, or of the pith of the common rush gathered
under the influence of the waxing moon. In another district we may find that a wick
made of one or other of the materials just mentioned, dipped in melted tallow, and
hence called a " dip " may have prevailed. In another, where that particular kind of
coal known as parrot or cannel coal is to be found, splinters of this coal were used,
and it was from this circumstance that it came to be called "cannel," that is, candle
coal. Over a wide area, for instance, round Auchinheath in the parish of Lesmaha-
gow, Lanarkshire, this was the ordinary light, but, of course, it was practically a fixed
light. This coal was broken into thin splinters, one of which at a time was laid on
an iron bracket attached to the front of the grate, so that the piece of cannel coal might
be kept sufficiently in contact with the ordinary coal. The bracket was called the
" coal-a/r//, "that is, the coal-iron, and the coal burned on. it was called "licht-coal,"
or light-coal. I have here a specimen of the coal-iron. It was the one used in my
father's house. It is now nearly fifty years since it was made. With the light that
blazed from it in the winter evenings, spinning and all household work were done,
books and newspapers read, and even writing done. This was the ordinary form.
Larger and smaller ones I have seen, but so far as I recollect the shape and appearance
were in all cases much the same. For going to other parts of the house or to the out-
houses a tallow candle was used. I have been told that cannel coal was similarly
used in some parts of lower Banffshire.
In certain districts peat-mosses containing plenty of resinous fir are found. These
" bog "or " moss-firs " were split into thin lath-like pieces, called " fir-cannels," and
were used over wide areas round such peat-mosses. Till not very long ago fir was so
prepared in the upper parts of Banffshire, and brought down to various places in the
low country to be sold. An instrument was used to probe or feel in the peat-moss for
the fir trunk or root, which was then " holed," that is, a hole was dug round so as to
free the trunk or root and allow it to be taken out. We have here a specimen of the
" spit, " as used in the Keith district. A suitable piece of fir— a "fat " or highly
resinous piece— having been found, it was cut into lengths of about a foot and a-half or
two feet, and split. The knife with which the splitting was done was called the
" cannel-gullie " or " cannel-futtle," that is the candle-knife. Specimens of these
" gullies " we have before us. The next thing was to lay a supply of the " fir-cannels "
to dry on the " fir-reist," which usually hung in the wide chimney. We have two
THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
specimens before us. Besides the name " fir-reist," their Gaelic name Coilkachan is
still known in the district round Keith. Coinnlean-spcic is the name used further up
the country. It means the sttpport for the candles. The Gaelic name Coillinn, a
candle, according to " MacLeod and De war's Gaelic Dictionary," seems to be coille-
theine, the flame of a wooden torch or fir-candle. A sacredness attached to the fir-
tree in Scotland, as well as in Sweden and other countries. Women in childbirth
were sained or hallowed with a fir candle (Dalyell's "Darker Superstitions of Scot-
land," p. 404), and "a piece of torch fir carried about the person, and a knife made
of iron, which has never been applied to any purpose, are both excellent preservatives
(Stewart's " Popular Superstitions of the Highlanders," p. 136).
In Lightfoot's Flora Scotica it is mentioned that the outer rind of the birch-tree
was sometimes burned instead of fir or tallow candles, but how it was prepared and
used I have not yet been able to make out. I can do little more than mention the
" crusie." In Banffshire and adjoining counties it used to be called " Reekie Peter."
Other names it had—" the black lamp," " the oily lamp," £c. Fish oil was commonly
burned in the "crusie, " by- means of a wick of cotton or of the piths of rushes.
Generally two piths were used. I asked one of my friends in the neighbourhood of
Keith if more than two were ever used. "Very, very seldom," she said, "such a
thing would have been counted extravagance." Then there was the " Ruffy." I
have not been able to learn that the name " ruffy" was used in the North, but the
thing itself was. " Jamieson's Scottish Dictionary" defines it as " a wick clogged
with tallow. The blaze used in fishing by night with the lister." The derivation
given is from two Swedish words roe-liu^ a. rush-light. Rush-wicks were sometimes
used, but more commonly stripes of cotton rags twisted or plaited loosely together.
This was very often what I may call an extemporised light — hurriedly and roughly
made, and hence its name " roughy" or "ruffy." Sometimes, instead of tallow,
butter was used, and in that case it was called the "Butter-ruffy." My friend Mrs
Stewart, of Selms, near Edinburgh, gives me an instance from the Upper Ward of
Lanarkshire. At a farm there happened a case of emergency, such as is liable to
occur in byres during the long dark nights of early spring. On this occasion the
" gudewife " had no oil or candle in stock, and no tallow, but she had butter. Soon
some cotton rags were torn up, twisted a little and coated with butter, and the needed
light got. This was a " Butter-ruffy." I may add that the " gudewife " wns accused
of evading the law. At that time there was a duty on tallow candies. I have not
heard of butter having been used in the North, but fat of all kinds was used, and as
more of this fat melted than could be consumed in the flame, the stand in which the
" ruffy " was placed was usually set on a plate in order that the grease might be
caught and saved. In olden times, in the parish of Tongland, " when thegoodman of
the house made family worship, they lighted a ' ruffy' to enable him to read the Psalm
and the portion of Scripture before he prayed." The light was put out before the
prayer. In Mid-Lothian I have seen the same thing done in my grandfather's house,
but it was a tallow candle or an oil lamp that was thus carefully and sparingly used.
The same custom prevailed in the North here. It was always a matter for considera-
tion whether the work to be done was "worth the candle' or not. Even "among
persons of high station wax candles were in use on especial occasions, and were carefully
extinguished when no longer needed." ("On Artificial Light," " by an Old Tech-
nologist," in The Journal of 'Science for February 1883).
Of sconces, links, torches, cressets, &c., and their characteristics and distinctions
I must not at this time dwell.
" PEER-MEN," AND THEIR RELATIONS. 559
The fir-candle, the tallow-candle, the wax-candle, and the oil-lamp were for long
used contemporaneously, and in any house it was just a matter of convenience which
was used. Since Paraffin Oil became so cheap the fir-candle and the strongly smelling
black fish-oil have almost everywhere ceased to be used.
Supports or stands for " fir " and " white " candles, and for lamps are of very old
date, and many of them were of great beauty and rare workmanship, such as those
that have been discovered among the ruins of Pompeii. Exquisite engravings of some
of these old Italian lamps and- lamp-stands I have now before me, through the kindness
of Dr Grigor, of Nairn. In general appearance some of them resemble our Scottish
forms. Often stands were dispensed with, and the lights were simply held in the
hand while needed. Sometimes a man or a boy was employed to hold the light,
while others were engaged in work or amusement, and hence we have the saying in
regard to a disagreeable unsociable person — "he'll neither dance, nor haud the
cannel." Even when the light was placed on a stand it required some one to be in
almost constant attendance upon it, to "snite" the fir-candle, to "snuff" the tallow
candle, and to attend to the wick and oil of "Reekie Peter." In the North it
was the business of the "herd-loon' to hold or to attend to the fir-light when
it was used at supper time, or at other times during the long dark winter evenings and
mornings. Before the present poor-law came into force, and even for some time after,
at the farm " touns " there were few nights in which food and shelter were not given
to one or more poor men and women, and one of these was often employed to hold or
to attend to the fir-candle during the evening, and in the morning while the "flail"
was plied in the barn. Sometimes it was only on condition that the poor man should
hold the candle that shelter for the night was given. It was from this that the stand
on which the fir-candle or the tallow candle was fixed, or the " crusie " hung, got the
name " Peer-Man," " Pure-Man," or " Pair-Man " — these being local forms of " Poor-
Man." The Gaelic name for it was Bodach, which is very nearly the equivalent of
our " Peer-Man." In " The Dialect of Banffshire, with a Glossary of Words not in
Jamieson's Scottish Dictionary," by the Rev. Walter Gregor, Pitsligo, I find under
" Peer-Man " that " Peer- Page is another name for the same." In other countries as
well as ours, pages were so employed. ' ' Even the Italians of the eleventh century
wore clothes of unlined leather, and had no taste except for horses and for shining
arms ; no pride except that of building strong towers for their lairs. Man and wife
grabbled for their supper from the same plate, while a squalid boy stood by them with
a torch to light their greasy fingers to their mouths" (The Martyrdom of Man, by
Winwood Reade, p. 30). The name " Poor-Man," so applied, has not, so far as I
have been able to make out, been used in the South, but fir-candles were used where
the material could be got. I wrote to my friend the late Dr. Grossart, of Salsburgh,
asking if out of his vast stores of antiquarian lore, he could give me any information
as to the existence of " Poor-Men " in Lanarkshire. He replied : — " I have seen an
old man, who, when a boy, held the burning bog-fir while men thrashed corn in the
long dark mornings of winter, and he was the only ' Peer- Man ' in Lanarkshire, as far
as I know." In the North one may meet every day with men not yet old who have
done the same thing. In King Henry F., Act IV., Scene II. , it maybe doubtful
whether Shakespeare refers to living candle-holders, or only to figures or images of
men — such as we know were made to support candles, just as we at the present time
often have figures of men, &c. , as supports for our lamps — when he makes Granclpre
say:—
560 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
" Big Mars seems bankrupt in their beggared host,
And faintly through a rusty beaver peeps.
Their (that is, the English) horsemen sit like fixed candlesticks
With torch staves in their hand."
In Romeo and Juliet, Act /., Scene /F., he makes Romeo say : —
" Give me a torch, — I am not for this ambling ;
Being but heavy, / will bear the light.'"
Again Romeo says : —
" A torch for me : let wantons light of heart
Tickle the senseless rushes with their heels ;
For I am proverbed with a grand-sire phrase —
/'// be a candle-holder and look on."
Every one will remember Sir Walter Scott's account in "A Legend of Montrose,"
chapter IV., of the visit of Angus M'Aulay to Sir Miles Musgrave, and the wager
that Angus took on that he had more numerous and more valuable candlesticks than
the six silver candlesticks on Sir Miles's table, and how Allan M 'Aulay got his brother
out of the difficulty on the visit of Sir Miles and his friend Christopher Hall. " The
two English strangers were first ushered into the hall where an unexpected display
awaited them. The large oaken table was spread with substantial joints of meat, and
seats were placed in order for the guests. Behind every seat stood a gigantic High-
lander, completely dressed and armed after the fashion of his country, holding in his
right hand his drawn sword, with the point turned downwards, and in the left a
blazing torch made of the bog-pine." The strangers of course were surprised, and
" ere they had recovered from their surprise, Allan stepped forward, and pointing with
his sheathed sword to the torch -bearers, said in a deep and stern tone of voice,
' Behold, gentlemen cavaliers, the chandeliers of my brother's house, the ancient
fashion of our ancient name ; not one of these men knows any law but his Chiefs
command. Would you dare to compare to THEM in value the richest ore that ever
was dug out of the mine? How say you, cavaliers ? Is your wager won or lost?'"
"Lost, lost," SDid Musgrave gaily, "my own silver candlesticks are all melted and
riding on horseback by this time."
The word chandeliers, applied by Allan M'Aulay to these " Peer-Men " was also
applied to our " Peer-Men " of the shires of Aberdeen, Banff, and Elgin, under the
form chanlcrs, pronounced fr/janlers.
I have heard of a dog in the parish of Birnie having been trained to hold the fir-
candle while his master shaved.
We must now turn to the anatomical structure of the " Peer-Men," and we must
not be surprised if we find even among them proofs of "The Development Theory!"
Judging from the specimens in my own collection, and from any other specimens
I have seen, " P^er-Men" may be divided into four species. Each species includes
many varieties : —
I. — The first species includes those that stood on the floor or on the table.
Originally they were wholly of wood, the stalk having a cleft at the top to hold the
fir-candle. As might have been expected, I have not been able to meet with a speci-
men of this kind. Such cleft sticks were called " clevies," or " clivvies," or " clavies,''
and when a piece of iron was used, it took the form of a cleft, and still retained the
name "clevie." This word, as first pointed out by Dr Joseph Anderson, is the same
word as the famous Burghead "Clavie. '' Met as we are in Banff, it seems right and
"PEER-MEN," AND THEIR RELATIONS. 561
fitting that your attention should be called to the fact that the earliest and best account
of the remarkable and interesting ceremony of the "Burning of the Clavie" at Burg-
head appeared in the Banff's/lire Journal, of Tuesday, 6th January 1863. It was
written by Alex. Jeffrey, jun., Burghead. This valuable article was quoted in full by
Robert Chambers in " The Book of Days." The Burghead " Clavie" is just a " Peer-
Man," highly developed and modified for a special purpose. In this case the "clevie"
or "clavie" has become quite abnormally developed — developed, in fact, into the half
of a tar-barrel. Though it has retained the name, there has long ceased to be any-
thing about it to suggest the origin of the name. In this connection it may be noted
how very soon, after the thing has gone out of use, its name is forgotten. I have met
with but a few who know the word "clevie" or "clivvie," and only among those well
advanced in years. In all cases it was pronounced "cleevie."
Other varieties had the base of a rounded or a squared stone with a hole in the
centre. Into this hole a stalk of wood about thirty-four inches in height was fixed
Into the top of this stalk the iron "clevie" was inserted. The stone base was
frequently cut into neat forms. The top of the stalk was very often guarded by an
iron ring, and sometimes there was an iron plate — round or square — through which the
"clevie" passed into the wood. This iron plate protected the wood, and was also used
for laying some fir-candles on to be in readiness for use.
The next variety is a very simple form. It is part of a young fir-tree that has
been selected because of its suitably diverging branches, which have been sawn off at
a sufficient distance from the stem to act as "claws" or feet. On one side where the
distance between the "claws" had been thought too great for stability, a piece of wood
had been inserted, but it has now crumbled nearly all away. In what was originally
the lower part of the tree the "clevie" was inserted.
The next specimen has a wooden block for its base. It was used some sixty years
ago in the kitchen of a farm in Glen-Rinnes.
This third variety has got the iron plate, already spoken of. The fourth
has a stone base. The fifth has been formed so as to hold the fir-candle, the tallow or
white candle and the "crusie." It is wholly of iron, and a good deal of work has
been very effectively spent on it. These were all about three feet four inches high.
For standing on the table the next specimen is a remarkably fine one. The fir-
candle was held by a spring, and part of the spring has been neatly utilised as a handle.
It stands on three claws. This is probably the oldest I have. I have been able to
trace its history a good way back into the last century. It is nine inches and a half
in height. The next two are somewhat rude in form, being simply small blocks of
wood into the tops of which " clevies" made to hold both the fir and the white candle
have been driven. The third variety of table ones is an uncommon form. Its wooden
base has been hollowed out into a bowl shape above, and. across the hollow runs a thin
vertical piece of iron passing through the stalk. On this the fir-candle could be
" snited," that is, have the " aizle" or charred tip struck off. In this case the "clevie"
is double, that is, there are clefts for two fir-candles.
In England there was a stand, very like our " Peer-Men," for holding the " Rush-
light." It is described by the Rev. Gilbert White in "The Natural History of Sel-
borne," and is figured in " The Book of Days."
II.— The second species includes those that were attached to the wall at the
fireside or to the jamb. They are altogether of metal, commonly of iron.
This variety is the simplest form. It was stuck into the wall and immovable.
The next variety is almost equally simple, but it was so made as to be placed in a
562 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
staple and could be turned from side to side. The third differs only in having
two clefts. The fourth shows a little advance. It has got one joint. The fifth has
got two joints. The sixth has three joints. The seventh has, in addition, a ring on
which some fir-candles might lie in readiness for use. It will be interesting to the
members of the Banffshire and Keith Field Clubs, as well as to others, to know that
this was the " Peer-Man," or " Chanler," used by Mr Coutts, the keeper of Balveny
Castle, when he took up house more than sixty years ago. The eighth is not only
jointed so that the light could be moved horizontally, and by means of the joints
extended in all directions well out into the floor, but it is attached to an iron rod on
which it could be moved up and down and fixed at any point by a spring. This iron
rod was fixed to the wall by two staples, one at the top and the other at the bottom.
The ninth is on the same principle, but very finely formed, and it has places for the fir-
candle, the white candle, and the "crusie."
Between the above two species we have examples of crosses or hybrids ! They
are a combination of the two. One, for instance, has the stone base and iron
stalk of the first species, and the jointed arm of the second species.
III. — The third species resembles the second in its jointed arm, but instead of a
" clevie " it has an iron ring with bars crossing at right angles— three one way and two
the other. This was the spealg-chrois, that is, the "crusie," on which "knappocks,"
or "knablocks," of fir were burned.
The next specimen is a cross between the first and third species. It has the
" clevie " of the first with the ring and cross-bars of the third. When there were fir-
candles the "clevie" was used; when only "knappocks" or "knablocks," the cross
or "crusie " was used. This was the one used in the room of the farm-house in Glen-
Rinnes already referred to.
IV.— The fourth species was made for hanging. The first variety was for burning
fir either in the form of candles or of chips. The second holds only the white candle.
The mode by which it could be lowered or raised is very simple, and at the same time
very effective.
Much more I could have said of the " ' Peer-Men ' and their Relations." I might
have gone more minutely into the general subject of lighting, and I might have
entered minutely into the particular history of each of the " Peer-Men " whom I have
had the honour of introducing, for each has a history, each could tell many a tale of
gladness and of sadness, many a tale of hard work successfully accomplished under
great disadvantages and difficulties — from the twisting of a Tyauve tether, to the study
of Latin, Greek, and Hebrew.
So far as I have been able to find, no poet has sung of the " Peer-Man," as Eliza
Cook has done of the "Rush-light," and William Motherwell of "The Midnight
Lamp." The only reference to the " fir-cannel " that I know of is in a Ballad which
must have been composed over a hundred years ago somewhere in the district within
sight of Tap o' Noth and of Benachie. For my knowledge of this Ballad, I am in-
debted to Mr James Simpson, Banff Distillery. I shall quote the lines that speak of
the "herd-loon" holding the fir-candle: —
" And little Pate sits i' the neuk
And but the house daur hardly leuk,
But hauds an' snuffs the fir ;
And fan the farmer tynes the line,
He says, ' I canna see a styme,
Haud in the canle, sir.'"
TO-MORROW. 563
I shall conclude by quoting two verses — the first and the last — of Eliza Cook's
" Song of the Rushlight," substituting for Rushlight "Peer-Man "in the first verse
and " fir-light " in the last.
" Oh ! scorn me not as a fameless thing,
Nor turn with contempt from the song I sing.
'Tis true I am not suffered to be
On the ringing board of wassail glee :
My pallid gleam must never fall
In the gay saloon or lordly hall ;
But many a tale does the " Peer- Man " know
Of secret sorrow and lonely woe.
* * * *
Many a lesson the bosom learns
Of hapless grief while the " fir-light " burns ;
Many a scene unfolds to me
That the heart of Mercy would bleed to see.
Then scorn me not as a fameless thing
Nor turn with contempt from the song I sing ;
But smile as ye will or scorn as ye may,
There's nought but truth to be found in my lay."
TO-MORROW.
Away with grief ; dull care away ;
Away with canker, pain, and sorrow ;
Where black clouds scowl and frown to-day,
The sun will brightly shine to-morrow.
The weary heart, when sore depressed,
Too oft, alas ! will trouble borrow ;
But joy will banish what distressed,
And eyes that wept will smile to-morrow.
Why should we grieve though friends forsake,
If one is left that's true and thorough
In adverse hours, who will partake
And share our woe or weal to-morrow ?
No peaceful place of rest is this,
Here no immunity from sorrow,
But an enduring home and bliss
Awaits above when comes the morrow.
DUNCAN MACGREGOR CRERAR,
NEW YORK.
564
THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
NUMBER OF DEGREES OF RE MO V ING from Agricultural Small Holding*
obtained against Crofter* and Cottars on the various- States in the Inland of
Skye, in each year from 1S40 to 1883 inclusive, compiled from the Records of
the Sher(f Court at Portree, by the Sheriff -Clerk, for the purposes of the Royal
Commission (Highlands and Islands) 1883 : —
YEAR.
J.S
1
Macleod's Estate.
Glendale and
Husabost.
Waternish, Stein,
and Lochbay.
Greshornish and
Coishletter.
Edinbane, Skeabost. J
and Bernisdale.
1,2
ll
ll
53
Lynedale.
Triaslan and
Clachanish.
Kilninir
j (Captain Eraser's).
Strathaird.
i
| YEARLY
| TOTALS.
1840
36
6
5
2
49
1
46
7
1
"2
...
1
7
64
2
33
2
6
41
3
40
10
3
1
1
...
6
11
72
4
40
15
1
9
2
...
1
68
5
26
6
2
1 9
3
11
57
6
41
4
6
...
6
i
"5
...
23
86
7
52
2
4
"4
'l
8
4
...
8
83
8
30
13
1
1
8
i
8
5
8
75
9
53
2
2
7
7
2
4
79
1850
73
22
5
"8
12
1
"7
4
132
1
10
2
1
5
9
1
5
6
39
2
47
11
2
2
7
1
6
8
84
3
38
9
1
6
4
4
62
4
12
13
3
11
i
4
6
50
5
9
14
3
8
i
5
1
41
6
17
6
3
i
7
"3
1
38
7
17
5
1
1
4
...
"2
i
10
1
"2
44
8
6
10
1
5
6
2
30
9
4
6
2
2
i
4
i
i
1
2
24
1860
9
7
1
12
i
5
i
1
37
1
10
2
5
2
16
'2
i
1
1
40
2
6
2
3
4
6
11
32
3
11
8
9
1
2
2
7
"2
2
44
4
13
2
4
3
"4
2
24
i
3
56
5
13
5
"i
...
1
32
52
6
8
5
"2
2
i
1
1
3
23
7
5
2
7
1
2
2
'2
21
8
8
7
3
2
2
i
1
24
9
2
8
2
2
i
1
"4
'5
25
1870
11
5
8
1
1
23
1
10
2
1
2
1
."
1
19
2
8
5
1
1
16
3
3
3
8
i
1
2
20
4
5
2
1
3
1
1
i
14
5
5
2
2
2
2
1
14
6
4
3
1
3
1
i
13
7
2
2
1
'i
i
3
11
8
6
1
1
...
1
i
2
12
9
4
2
2
i
i
2
12
1880
3
1
2
!.'.'
i
..
3
...
10
1
2
...
...
3
"e
!"'
6
776
223
112
55
9
165
18
27
38
124
67
i26
...
1740
THE KILT AFTER 1745. 565
Brought forward ... ... ... 1740
The preceding Decrees have proceeded on Summonses, each directed
against, on an average, at least, four heads of families. The above
total must therefore be multiplied by ... ... ... ... ... 4
Giving the number of heads of families warned to remove as ... ... 6£60
And taking 5 as the average number of individuals in each family ... 5
Gives 34,800
As the number of individuals of the Crofter class, in the Isle of Skye, who,
between the years 1840 and 1883, have ha-1 the fact of the insecurity of their
tenure impressed upon them by process of Law, directly affecting them, and at an
expense to the G9GO heads of families of an average of 10s. each, or £3480 sterling.
DUGALD MACLACHLAN.
[Just consider for a moment the amount of physical and mental misery repre-
sented by these figures ! The whole population of Skye, including the village of
Portree, the landlords, factors, and other estate officers and underlings, only num-
bers about 17,000 souls. Here you have decrees of removal, in forty years (for
during the three years of the current agitation, only six decrees were obtained),
against more than double the number of people living in the Island. In other-
words, a decree of removal is issued, on an average, against every man, woman,
and child in Skye every twenty years ! And yet these people are charged with
being lazy because they will not sufficiently improve their dwellings and holdings
under such incredible conditions of incessant persecution and insecurity as these
official figures disclose. It should be stated that the factor and lawyer who usually
obtains these decrees, and profits by them, is generally one and the same person.
The proceeds of his factorial decrees of removal goes into the factor's pocket in
his capacity of law-agent. Had we similar figures from other districts in the
Highlands, we would probably find similar results. Their silent testimony is in
itself sufficient to force a change in our present laws ; but meantime we would sub-
mit them with all confidence for the careful consideration of our good friend — the
Scotsman— who delights so much in showing off his arithmetical accomplishments.
—ED., C. M.I
THE KILT AFTER 1745.
The following curious document, supplied by a valued correspondent, explains
itself. It is scarcely believable that such folly among our legislators was possible,
little more than a hundred years ago : —
"John M'Leran of the Parish of Ardchattan, aged about twenty years, was
brought befor me by Lieutenant John Campbell, being apprehended for wearing a
Phelibeg [Kilt], and convicted of the same by his own confession : Therefore, in
terms of the Act of Parliament, I delivered him over to the said Lieutenant John
Campbell to serve His Majesty as a soldier in America, after reading to him the 2nd
and 6th sections of the Act against mutiny and desertion. Certified at Ardmady, 26th
September 1758. (Signed) "CO. CAMPBELL, J. P."
The document is indorsed as follows :— " Invry., 2;th September 1758.— Ap-
points Peter Campbell, officer, to put the within John M'Leran in goal, therein to
remain till liberated in due course of law.
(Signed) "JOHN RICHARDSON."
566 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
CELTIC MYTHOLOGY.
BY ALEXANDER MACBAIN, M.A.
VI. — DRUIDISM.
ONE feature of the Gaulish religion still remains to be discussed,
and that, too, perhaps its most important one. We have dis-
cussed the religious beliefs of the people, but not their ecclesias-
tical polity. This is known as Druidism, although that term is
commonly made to include all that we know of the Gaulish
religion as well. But the Druids were rather the philosophers
and divines of the Gauls ; and, as what we know of their opinions
and practices is somewhat remarkable, it is better not to confuse
their system with the ordinary Aryan religion of the Gauls.
Here, again, it must be repeated that our information is meagre ;
in fact, with regard to the Druids no less meagre, and far
more unsatisfactory than our comparatively poor information
about their general religion. Indeed, with the addition of two
chapters in Caesar, a sentence in Cicero, and nigh a dozen lines of
Lucan, our authorities for Druidism are included in the enumera-
tion already made in regard to Gaulish religion in general. No
monuments or inscriptions can help us ; nor can we trust in the
slightest degree the references made to Druidism by early Irish
or Welsh writers : the Druids of Irish history are mere conjurors
and magicians. Neither can any customs or religious survivals
be referred to Druidic belief or usage. But it may be at the start
premised that there is, perhaps, little to know, and that it is en-
tirely due to Caesar's account of them, probably itself somewhat
exaggerated in its political aspect, and certainly misread by
modern writers under the influence of their knowledge of medi-
ajval ecclesiasticism, that this exaggerated opinion of Druidism is
prevalent. So little is known, and the little that is known is so
interesting, that it opened quite a new world for fancies and
speculations. " Omne ignotum pro magnifico est ;" the unknown
passes for the magnificent. Here was an unknown and un-
knowable land, where in circular temples of stone, and mid
groves of oak, in vestments of stainless white, and ornaments of
glittering gold, stalked majestically the Druids, holding high
converse with their disciples on the nature of the one God — for
CELTIC MYTHOLOGY. 567
such philosophers could only be monotheists ! — on the immortality
of the soul, the courses of the stars, and, in fact, on all the mighty
problems of life. Dr Smith tells us that they alone kept the first
tradition of monotheism intact in the West; and Reynaud, but a
generation ago, found in their human sacrifices only the conse-
quence of the idea, dominant now as in the days of the Druids,
that the higher the victim the more complete the atonement
offered to the Deity for the sins of man. John Toland, at the
end of the i/th century, an Irishman of fertile imagination and
advanced opinions, possessed of no small learning, was the first
to lead the way into the undiscovered country of Druidism. The
references in Pliny were made to disclose a pomp and ritual that
could vie with the best days of the Church of Rome ; surplices of
white — incidentally worn, as may be seen from Pliny — were their
usual dress, with golden ornaments, sacrifice utensils and amulets,
all of gold. The megalithic monuments — circles, cromlechs, and
menhirs, were of course their work — their temples and their
altars, and these also showed their knowledge of the mechanical
powers. Nay, cairns and barrows were Druidic remains, and
vitrified forts ! Everything unexplained in archaeological monu-
ments, in social customs, and in proverbial language must be
Druidic. Dr Smith, of the " Seann Dana," followed Toland and
made a most unscrupulous use of his classical authorities. Welsh
and French writers took the same view of the old religion of
Gaul, and Celtomania reigned supreme in this obscure region,
until lately the light of modern criticism was allowed to shine
through the overhanging mist of nonsensical speculation.
All that can with certainty be known of the Druids will first
be briefly given, apart from any personal theories. Caesar is again
our first and best authority. In the digression in his 6th book,
on the manners and customs of the Gauls and Germans, he tells
us that all men of any consideration or position were included
among either the Druids or the nobles. The Druids conduct
public and private sacrifices, and interpret omens. Young men
flock to them for instruction ; and they are held in great honour,
for they have the decision of all controversies, public and private ;
they are judges in cases of crime, murder, and disputes in regard
to succession or boundaries ; and whoever abides not by their
decision is excommunicated — a most severe punishment, for such
568 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
arc reckoned sacrilegists, and men flee from their presence for fear
of disaster from contact with them. A chief Druid presides
over them, having supreme authority. He may be elected with
or without voting, and they at times resort to war to decide the
matter. They meet at an appointed time of the year in the ter-
ritories of the Carnutes, in the middle of Gaul, where there is a
consecrated place; and there all come who have disputes, and
abide by their decisions. It is thought that the system was found
in Britain, and thence transferred to Gaul, and those who at the
present time wish to know it thoroughly, as a rule proceed there
to learn it. The Druids are wont to hold aloof from war, and
pay no taxes, being thus free from military service and civil
duties. Under the inducement of such great rewards, many come
themselves into their ranks, or are sent by their parents and friends.
With them they learn off a great number of lines of poetry, so
that some remain under training for twenty years. And they do
not regard it allowable by divine laws to commit these things to
writing, though in secular matters they use Greek letters. The
reason for this seems to be twofold, that they do not wish either
their system to be made public, or their pupils to fail to cultivate
their memory by trusting to writing, as generally happens when
books can be resorted to. Their chief doctrine is that souls do
not perish, but pass after death from one individual to another,
and this — the removal of the fear of death — they think the greatest
incitement to valour. They theorise largely on astronomy, on the
size of the universe and the earth, on nature, and on the power
and might of the gods, and in these matters they instruct the
youth. Caesar further on tells that the Druids presided at the
human sacrifices, and in the 7th book he gives us to know that the
^Eduan magistrates, at least, were elected by them. Cicero, in
his treatise on " Divination," written a few years later, introduces
tiis brother Quintus as saying : " The principles of divination arc
not overlooked among barbarous nations even, as, for instance, in
Gaul there are the Druids, one of whom Divitiacus, the yEduan, I
knew ; he was a guest of yours and great in your praises. He
professed to know natural philosophy, which the Greeks call
'physiology,' and he used to tell partly by augury, partly by
conjecture, what was to happen in the future." Cicero's contem-
porary, Diodorus Siculus, tells us that among the Gauls were
CELTIC MYTHOLOGY. 569
bards, certain philosophers and divines named Druids, and sooth-
sayers, adding that " the system of Pythagoras held sway among
them," that is, the doctrine of the transmigration of souls. To
this doctrine Valerius Maximus refers when he says : " One would
have laughed at these long-trousered philosophers [the Druids], if
we had not found their doctrine under the cloak of Pythagoras."
Strabo, his contemporary, in the first century of our era, gives us
a short account of the Druids, half of which is but a variation of
Caesar's sketch. "Amongst the Gauls," he says, "there are
generally three divisions of men, especially reverenced, the Bards,
the Vates, and the Druids. The bards composed and chanted
hymns ; the Vates occupied themselves with the sacrifices and
the study of nature; while the Druids joined to the study of
nature that of moral philosophy. The belief in their justice is so
great that the decision both of public and private disputes is
referred to them, and they have before now by their decision pre-
vented battle. All cases of murder are particularly referred to
them. When there are plenty of these they imagine there will be
a plentiful harvest. Both these and the others [Bards and Vates]
assert that the soul is indestructible and likewise the world, but
that fire and water will one day have the mastery." And
further on he says that without the Druids the Gauls never sacrifice.
Another geographer, Pomponius Mela, refers to the Druids,
but adds nothing to our knowledge, merely echoing Caesar's de-
scription. Lucan, who died in 65, has been quoted in the former
section for the names of the Gaulish gods ; but he further pro-
ceeds to describe, after a reference to the Bards, the barbarous
rites of the Druids and their theology. The passage is mostly an
expansion of Caesar's reference to the transmigration of souls,
but the poet beautifully brings out how " Pluto's gloomy reign" is
not the habitation of souls, but that —
" Forth they fly immortal in their kind,
And other bodies in new worlds they find ;
Thus life for ever runs its endless race,
And like a line death but divides the space.
Thrice happy they beneath their northern skies,
Who that worst fear — the fear of death — despise ;
Hence they no cares for this frail being feel,
But rush undaunted on the pointed steel;
Provoke approaching fate and bravely scorn
To spare that life which must so soon return."
570 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE
The writer on the Druids, next in importance to Caesar, is Pliny
the Elder. He has several interesting allusions to them and their
superstitions. At the end of his i6th book he mentions the
admiration of the Gauls for the mistletoe. " The Druids," he
says " (for so they name their magi) hold nothing more sacred
than the mistletoe, and the tree on which it grows, provided it be
the oak. They choose groves of that tree, and conduct no sacri-
fice without a garland of its leaves, so that we may possibly
suppose the Druids are so called from its Greek name \drit s\.
Whatever grows on the oak is considered a gift from heaven."
And he proceeds to tell how it was culled from the tree, as has
already been told. Pliny mentions other plant superstitions of
the Gauls, connecting the rites naturally enough with the Druids
who presided. The next important fetish he mentions is the
club-moss (selago) ; it must be touched by no metal, but plucked
by the right hand passed through the tunic under the left, with a
thievish gesture ; 'the worshipper must be dressed in white, with feet
washed and bare ; and the plant must be carried in a new cloth.
The Druids held that it was a charm against all misfortunes, and
the smoke of its burning leaves cured diseases of the eye. In
much the same way they thought the " samolus," or water pim-
pernel, a talisman against murrain in cattle. Vervain was
another plant, "about which the Gaulish magi raged," which cured
everything, and had to be gathered at the rise of the dog-star,
and when neither sun nor moon was seen. But these plant
superstitions and ceremonies have nothing especially " Druidic"
about them; they are common among other nations as well.
Pliny's account of the serpent's egg — the anguinum — is more im-
portant and special. The snake's egg was said to be produced
from the frothy sweat of a number of serpents writhing in an
entangled mass, and to be tossed up into the air as soon as
formed. The Druid who was fortunate enough to catch it in his
cloak as it fell rode off at full speed, pursued by the serpents,
until stopped by a running stream. If tried, the egg would swim
in water though cased in gold. Pliny says he saw one himself,
" about the size of a moderately large apple, with a cartilaginous
rind, studded with cavities like the arms of a polypus." A Roman
knight was making use of it in court to gain an unfair verdict,
and for this was put to death by Claudius the Emperor. And,
CELTIC MYTHOLOGY. 571
lastly, in speaking of magic and its "vanities," he says that
"Britain celebrates them to-day with such ceremonies that it
might seem possible that she taught magic to the Persians," and
" Gaul was overrun with magic arts even up to our own time, until
Tiberius Caesar did away with the Druids and this class of
prophets and medicine-men." This passage has puzzled many
commentators, for if the Druids were done away with, how does
Pliny elsewhere mention them as still existent in Gaul ? And to
add to the difficulty, Suetonius, a generation later, says that
" Claudius abolished entirely the religion of the Druids, a religion
of dreadful barbarity, and forbidden only the Roman citizens
under Augustus." Pliny and Suetonius do not agree as to which
Emperor abolished Druidism, nor can we well believe that it was
altogether abolished even then : it would appear that only the
human sacrifices and certain modes of divination were put a stop
to. Strabo, indeed, says as much; and we can see from Tacitus
that the prophecies of the Druids incurred political wrath as late
as Vespasian's time — after the abolition of Druidism, according to
Pliny. Human sacrifices and, probably, meddling in politics were
sure to bring the wrath of Rome on the system. Tacitus gives
us an insight of how at times the Romans did put a stop to these
phases of Druidism. In describing the attack of the Romans on
Mona, or Anglesea,- he represents the legions as awe-struck by
the appearance of the Druids amid their opponents' ranks, pour-
ing curses and vengeance on their heads, with hands upraised to
heaven. But they were rolled in their own fires, and the groves
sacred to grim superstitions were cut down ; " for," he adds,
" they hold it lawful to sacrifice captives at their altars and to
consult the gods from the movements of human entrails." After
the first century, writers speak of Druidism as a thing of the
past ; evidently the decrees of the Emperors had done away with
its fiercer elements of superstition, and the purer and more philo-
sophical parts had been absorbed into the usual Roman faith.
Christianity, at least, had no contest with Druidism either in
Gaul or in England. It may be mentioned that Ammianus
Marcellinus, in the fourth century, gives us a few lines on the old
and long extinct Druidism. After noticing the foundation of
Marseilles by a Phocean colony, he says that when the people in
those parts got gradually civilised, the learned studies which had
2 O
572 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
been begun by the bards, the Euhages (probably a corruption of
Vates) and the Druids, throve vigorously. Of these, he says, the
Druids were the intellectual superiors of the others, and were
formed into unions in accordance with the precepts of Pythagoras,
where deep and hidden problems were discussed, and looking
from a lofty philosophic pinnacle on human affairs, they pro-
nounced human souls immortal.
PROPOSED CIVIL LIST PENSION FOR
MRS MARY MACKELLAR.
THE Gaelic Society of Inverness, on the suggestion of one of its most influential
members in the North, has just set a movement agoing with the view of securing a
Civil List Pension for the Bard of the Society, Mrs "Mary Mackellar. A " Draft
proposed Memorial " to the Prime Minister has been sent to Celtic Societies through-
out the country, as well as prominent friends of the Celtic cause north and south,
with the view of combined action in support of the Memorial. We have no doubt,
if Highlanders will do their duty, that its prayer will be granted. The following are
the principal clauses of the Memorial : —
" Your Memorialists desire to respectfully bring under your notice that Gaelic
Literature (differing in this respect from Welsh Literature) has not as yet been
encouraged by receiving any of the patronage which it is in the power of the First
Minister of the Crown to bestow, and in which the Highland people might justly
expect to share :
"That Mrs Mary Mackellar has rendered very valuable services to Gaelic
Literature— she having written and published Gaelic Poetry of great beauty and
merit, and collected and published numerous ancient tales and traditions of literary
and antiquarian value, which, but for her exertions, would in all probability be lost :
" That the bestowal of a Pension from the Civil List on Mrs Mackellar would not
only be a deserved and suitable acknowledgment of these services, but would also be
a source of great satisfaction to the Memorialists, and, it is believed, to Highlanders
all over the World.
" May it therefore please you, Sir, to confer a Pension, from the Civil List, on
Mrs Mackellar, for merit in connection with Gaelic Literature."
EVAN MACCOLL'S POEMS.— We are glad to learn, from the Kingston
Whig, that Evan MacColl, perhaps better known in this country as "The Bard of
Lochfyne," has at last decided to issue a complete edition of his poems in two
volumes, one Gaelic, the other English. Those who read our sketch of the author,
a few years ago, in volume v. of the Celtic Magazine need not be again told of his
fame, both as a Gaelic and as an English bard, even forty-five years ago. We trust the
result will be such an appreciation of genuine merit as will make the bard not only
happy but independent of a rainy day in his old age.
573
THE LOWER FISHINGS OF THE NESS.
BY CHARLES FRASER-MACKINTOSH, F.S.A. SCOT, M.P.
I.
As early as 1240 Alexander II. of Scotland granted to the Friars
of the Order of St Dominic, at Inverness, " the whole water and
Fishing of Ness, from the Friar's Road to the Cherry ;" having
eight years previous in his charter of Kinmylies, reserved to the
Bishop of Moray a half merk worth of fishings ; no doubt those
opposite to Wester and Easter Ballifeary. The various rights to
fishings have always been looked upon as important, and
struggled for and fought about with more keenness than any
other species of property at Inverness.
The upper part of the west side of the River, granted origin-
ally to the Gordons in 1509, along with the Castle Lands, was
feued by them to the Baillies of Duncan, and extended from the
Black Stone of Abriachan, in Loch-Ness, to the Stone of Clach-
nahalig. They are presently the property of Dochfour and
Ness Castle. On the east side, the upper fishings originally ap-
pertained to the Barony of Durris, extending from Aldourie to
part of the Towns Lands of Drumdivan, near Balnahaun of
Holm, and are now in possession of Aldourie, Dochfour, Ness
Castle, and Holm.
The Town of Inverness acquired the whole property of the
Friars, including their fishings, confirmed by Charter of Queen
Mary in 1 567 ; and all the Town's prior rights, which were early
and numerous, were confirmed, renewed, and regranted by the
Golden Charter of James VL, dated at Holyrood House, ist
January 1591. The terms of this charter arc very comprehen-
sive, " All and Haill the water of Ness, all the parts on both sides
of the same, betwixt the Stone called Clachnahagaig and the
Sea," etc., etc. The exact site of Clachnahagaig, usually and
correctly termed Clachnahalig, has been questioned, but unneces-
sarily. It is shown on the plans of both May and Home (1762
and 1774), and when the present stone was placed some years
ago, at the instance of the writer, on the Canal Bank, to denote
THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
the boundary twixt Dunain and the Territory of the Burgh,
amongst those present at the setting up, and who audibly de-
clared it was truly placed, was Charles Eraser, then crofter at
Dalrioch of Duncan, who recollected the old stone perfectly for
many years, prior to its necessary removal during the construc-
tion of the Canal. Great changes took place in the course of the
river, while the Canal was being made. The river formerly ran
in close to the foot of the Torvean slopes, with the width merely
of the old road to Dochgarroch and the Bona intervening. The
stone stood on the margin of this old road by the river, being
frequently in part submerged in flood time. The meaning of the
word Clachnahalig was long a puzzle, the difficulty being en-
hanced by the error of the transcribing clerk of the charter of
1591, converting it into Clachnahagaig. Within the last two
years, a paper, in the handwriting of the late Mr Campbell Mac-
kintosh of Dalmigavie, long Town Clerk of Inverness, being "Me-
moir regarding the Cruive fishings of the Ness, 1822," fell under
notice, and on the margin opposite the word Clachnahalig is
marked thus, " The Gled Stone." There is little doubt, there-
fore, the original word was Clach-na-Faoileag, the Stone of the
Sea Gulls. Frequenters of the upper island in the Ness, a few
years ago in winter, could not have failed to arouse a great gull,
which had its winter home in the small island opposite Island Bank
House, no doubt a descendant of the ancient habitants of
Clachnahalig, who found the stone a convenient spot, to watch
for food. Four stones are noted by May as being in close
proximity, the uppermost and largest being described as the
March Stone, but the late Mr Allan Maclean of Dochgarroch,
speaking on the point, in answer to questions, only recollected
one, rather unshapely, but so large that he and companions going
back and fore to the Academy at Inverness, used to play hide
and seek around it.
The Town of Inverness, at an early period, feued out their
fishings ; and the whole lower river was thus divided, the Four
Cobles, the Friar's Shot, the Stell and Red Pool, in Kessock
Roads, all holding of the Town in feu, and the Castle Shot,
belonging to the Gordons. Cruives had been established prior
to 1591, and were the subject of enormous contention with the
upper heritors. The litigations lasted over sixty years, the
THE LOWER FISHINGS OF THE NESS. 575
upper heritors being ultimately successful in finding them illegal
as placed. The restrictions in their use were found so onerous
that they, in a short time, were allowed to fall into decay and
disuse. The Kings Milns were originally at the Haugh, sup-
plied by water drawn from the river, but on the remonstrance
from the Town that they prejudiced the fishings, these were
removed to the present stance several hundred years since, yet>
curiously, the miln lade was open as late as 1785. In that year
the Duke of Gordon and the Magistrates of Inverness composed
certain differences, and the latter conveyed to the Duke, inter alia,
" All and whole, the old mill lead or mill sheugh leading towards
the village of Haugh."
Reference will now be made to some of the numerous dis-
putes and litigations regarding these lower fishings.
/. Blight and the Toivn. — There was a miln at Killivean from
an early period, and the lade had been formed long before
memory of man. The lands of Bught, held of the Town, long in
possession of a family named Paterson, had been acquired by
William Fraser, writer in Inverness, afterwards Town-Clerk.
Clerk Fraser, about 1765, desired much to enlarge the purposes
to which the diverted water from the river had hitherto been
alone used, viz., for a miln grinding the corn of the Barony of
Kinmylies, a channel having been cut parallel to the river,
joining the latter near the march with Wester Ballifeary. This
gave great offence to the Coble proprietors, some of whom were
also Magistrates, and the Clerk is accused
" Of pretending ignorance with respect to his intention of building a flour miln
there. This is of a piece with the rest, for, besides the said flour miln, he is on terms
with others who are to build a snuff miln, and a bleaching miln, he must have, he
says, for himself, all on the banks of the River Ness, which banks belong to the Town
of Inverness, and particularly in servitude to the proprietors of the river, and without
which there could be no fishing. Besides, it is the common high road to go to the Isle
for the inhabitants and strangers, and the only way the fishermen have of hauling their
boats to the island to fish it, and the very place where their boats lie on shore in the
day time."
The Clerk defends himself on various pleas, that his lands
were Church lands, that they held of, or were part of, the regality
of Spynie, that the neighbourhood was waste, unimproved, full
of natural oak woods, etc., etc., but is pitched into mercilessly
576 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
"As to what he (Clerk Fraser of Bught) says of Church lands, any person without
being a nian of law, far less a clerk of a considerable community, knows that Church
lands were disposed of at the Reformation in an odd and extraordinary way to friends
and powerful neighbours by the then incumbents. His intentions to be no vassal of
the Town's, is to make out by his Church right, titles to the milns, and multures of his
lands and fishing (as he says) included in his said right. Neither of which can he have
from the Magistrates, for all their fishings were disposed of by them long ago, as were
their milns, to which last, the Town of Inverness, and lands holding of it, are thirled.
But before, and at the Reformation, the Magistrates and Council were (it being Church
.lands) the Patrons of Bught, which is equal in the present case to Superiors, as by
the disposition he mentions will appear, as likewise that these lands are burdened in
the usages, liberties, and privileges, &c., used and wont to the Town of Inverness,
their vassals and inhabitants. As to what he says of the regality of Spynie should it
hold, the Town would have few vassals left them, for most of the carses of Inverness
were of Arbroath, and others of the lands they are Superiors of, of different holdings.
So this is a fine motion from their Town-Clerk. To imagine that this country was all
oak 150 years ago is thoughtless. There was as little hereabouts then as now, our
woods having been destroyed by Danes, English and intestine wars."
In the end the Clerk was either beaten fairly or concussed
by his superiors into abandoning all his objects save that of
bleaching, which was carried on higher up the river, twixt the
present mill stream to the Miln of Killivean and the river.
II. The Town and the Lower Heritors. — (i) The Islands.—
Much about the same time as that of the previous contest, the
Burgh got into trouble with its feuars in the fishings, in regard to
the islands in the river. The nature of the dispute is clearly
brought out in the paper after quoted. In another paper it is
stated that—
" The timber of the island was as fit for cutting these many years past as it is this
day, but no Magistracy ever thought of pretending in the least am* t5«V thereto, far
less of offering to make it their own, as they knew the property of it, and all that it
contained, belonged to their vassals, the heritors of the fishing."
The Town was successful in this contest in asserting their
full right of property in the island, cut down all the timber and
replanted it, the Statistical Account of 1792 representing the then
timber as about 30 years old. The references to the entertain-
ments, etc., in the island are interesting. Here follows the paper
referred to, being
Queries for David Poison, JoJin Lyon, Murdo Poison, Thomas
MacCoil-Roy, Andreiv Mackilligan, Donald Forbes, and
Donald Robie, old Fishers : —
" I mo. Whether, or not, the Heritors, or their Ta'cksmen, and
THE LOWER FISHINGS OF THE NESS. 577
their fishermen, were not annually or generally in use to build
t\vo houses or hutts at the east end of the island, and at the little
cosack, near the west end, wherein they watched or guarded the
fish.
" 2do. Whether, they did not always on these occasions,
choose, cut, and use the most proper timber in and of the island
for such houses ; and, also, whether they did not always cut feal
and divot anywhere they pleased of the ground of the said isle
for the said houses, and likewise for tables, seats, and any other
uses that they had occasion for, in entertainments in the islands,
which happened frequently.
" 3tio. Whether when any breach happened in the water
works or carrys, they did not cut large trees of the said isjand,
and carry them to such breach to close or mend the same, and
whether when the corner or purses of these cossacks wanted any
timber proper for making them up or mending them, such was
not always cut of the timber of the said island for such uses.
" 4to. Whether the bulk of the fish caught on the River Ness
are not taken in the island by the different engines and other-
wise.
" 5 to. Whether, if the Magistrates were allowed to make the
island a thoroughfare, by cutting the wood thereof, &c., that
conduct would not entirely destroy the water works and carrys,
and consequently ruin the fishing of the river.
"6to. Whether they ever saw or heard of the Magistrates
cutting, or giving orders to any other to cut, a tree there.
U7to. Whether, when formerly the Magistrates gave entertain-
ment in the island to strangers, it was not by order of the
Heritors, their Tacksmen, or Managers, that the fish was pro-
vided, and other preparations were made for the said entertain-
ments; and whether it was not customary for the Heritors to
entertain their friends there at their own expense, and whether
they did not on such occasions cause, build, or repair seats, tables,
and cause cut wood for dressing and boiling their fish, and
shading the place of entertainment.
"8to. Whether any person was allowed to put a beast or
cattle into the said island except the Heritors, Tacksmen, or
fishermen, or by their allowance, in order to feed on the grass of
said island.
578 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
" About fishing at the Well, etc., etc., whether or not there was
any boat ever used by any person, passing or repassing to or
from the island, for the foresaid purpose or any other, except
those belonging to the Tacksmen, and which was always had by
their consent upon application made. Whether any new and un-
common access to the said island, either for the cutters of wood,
or for using the grass thereof by cattle at any season of the year,
would not so absolutely impair the water works, cruives, etc.
(erected at great expense), as to render the fishing naught, but
would also by such uncommon and unprecedented use by making
a common thoroughfare, and a perpetual subject of theft and
stealth, render the Heritors' property of no avail."
Queries to be put to Richard Ord, Robert Graham, Samuel An-
cram, Alexander Macurchie, and Daniel Denoon : —
" I mo. What proportion of about 200 barrels salmon, of 400
weight, green fish, each barrel which have been killed on the
River Ness since the I2th of December last, 1762, till this date,
was killed or taken in the island, and if it is not generally in the
same proportion, especially in the winter and spring.
"2do. Whether if the Magistrates or any of them were to cut
the wood of the island, &c., it would not destroy the water
works and Carries, and ruin the fishing."
(2.) The Stell, &c., Fishings at the Longman. — The fishings
feued by the Town, other than the Friar's Shot, commonly called
the Four Cobles, were also divided into Shots, viz. : — Pol-Chro
Shot, or the Pool of the Cattle, being the highest ; Pi! -TVi vi Shot,
or the clear bottomed pool ; Island Shot, Silver Pool and Trot
Shot, Cherry Shot. This last was the lowest, but its north
boundary seems to have been undefined. The Four Cobles'
Heritors in 1774 complained that —
"Though they had right to fishings from Clachnahalig to the Sea, and had
exercised the right, yet, of late, the Magistrates and Council have interrupted them
therein, and have attempted to erect a stell fishing, at or near the mouth of the river,
at a point called the Longman's Grave, altho' absolute denuded of every right of fishing
in said river and mouth thereof."
On the other hand the Magistrates alleged that their pre-
decessors
"Did at different times make feu grants of certain parts of coble fishings on the
River Ness, making in all four cobles, the grantees whereof did exercise their right at
"THE ISLE OF SKYE IN 1882 AND 1883." 579
certain known stations or places, without pretending to use more cobles than four, or
pretending to fish in any other place of the river other than those which had been
customary for their respective cobles. That the said Magistrates and Council did also
grant in feu another fishing on said river, called the Friar's fishing, and did also grant
in feu the Stell fishing in the Ferry of Kessock, both which have their known stations
and boundaries. That the said Magistrates and Council being advised that another
convenient fishing might be erected upon the east side of the mouth of said river, at a
place called the Longman's Grave, did upon the 22nd January 1773, let the same by
public rotip for the spa^e of eight years. That the Cobles' Heritors had not only in-
terrupted them, but by their lessees had of late taken upon them to fish at places or
stations different from their known stations where they have been in use to fish, par-
ticularly at two places in the river and mouth thereof called the Thombush and Cairn
Ark, notwithstanding that the Town of Inverness has by grant from the Crown, right
to the whole fishings on said river, £c., &c."
It will be observed that the question then raised did not
refer to the Stell fishings in Kessock, expressly granted by the
Charter of 1591, but to another Stell proposed to be created a
long time subsequent to the date of the Four Cobles and Friar's
fishings charters. Nevertheless, from the Coble Heritors not
being in use to draw their nets lower than the Citadel Harbour,
the Town was successful. These fishings were from Burgh
exigencies unfortunately sold to the Harbour Trustees at a com-
paratively recent date. At one time the Town was entirely
denuded of its fishings in property right, but at present it pos-
sesses half a coble and. the Friar's Shot
(To be continued.)
" THE ISLE OF SKYE IN 1882 AND 1883."— This work, by Alexander
Mackenzie, Editor of the Celtic Magazine, is just out. The book, which extends to
257 pages, gives a complete account of the social state of Skye for the last two years
to date, illustrated by full Reports of the Trials of the Braes and Gleadale Crofters in
Inverness and Edinburgh. An introductory chapter of 54 pages deals specially with
the evidence submitted to the Royal Commission in the Island, by the Crofters,
"Tormore," Dr Martin, and others, particularly in reference to evictions and other
factorial proceedings, for the last seventy years. The Liverpool Mercury, reviewing
it almost immediately on publication, says, " It is a real contribution to the economi-
cal history of Scotland," and, " every Member of Parliament should have a copy of
it sent to him ; for the reform of the land laws of the Highlands cannot be shelved, as
the subject is fast becoming one of the leading questions of the clay." The author of
" Literary Notes," in the Daily Mail, says that " it ought to be in the hands of every
one who is attempting to get at the truth respecting the great problem of the High-
lands and their population. Its conspectus of the history and condition of Skye will
be simply invaluable to the political student." The Invergordon Times says, " every
one should be possessed of a copy of this valuable book ; and every public libxary in
our Highland parishes should deem its store of Celtic history incomplete without it ;"
while the London Echo, in a long article on the subject of the book, " would specially
commend it to students of the Land Question as it affects the Highlands of Scotland."
Price, 2s. 6d.; by Parcel Post, 2s. 9d.
58o THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
THE ROYAL COMMISSION AND THE " SCOTSMAN."
ALLEGED MANIPULATION OF CROFTERS' EVIDENCE.
COPIES of the following was sent to the Editors of the principal news-
papers in the United Kingdom, many of whom reproduced it, thus pro-
viding for it a much wider circulation than the Scotsman could have
given it : —
" CELTIC MAGAZINE" OFFICE,
INVERNESS, I4th September 1883.
SIR, — In the name of the Highland people, I beg that you will, in
an early issue, publish the following letter, refused insertion, as I ex-
pected, by the Edinburgh Scotsman. This misnamed paper, finding the
evidence overwhelmingly against the position he has taken up, thinks it
possible to rob the people of the Highlands of simple justice by abuse
and misrepresentation of those who succeeded in getting public opinion
directed to their condition, and then refusing, as in my own case, three
times in succession, to insert any correction of his baseless charges.
From such an ignoble attempt to suppress the truth, I appeal, in the name
of an oppressed people, to the sense of fair-play of the British public
and the British press, and ask you to publish the following, which speaks
for itself. — Yours fraternally,
ALEX. MACKENZIE.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SCOTSMAN."
25 ACADEMY STREET,
INVERNESS, I2th September 1883.
SIR, — In a leading article criticising a letter by "Scotus,"in your issue of this
morning, you make statements the truthfulness of which I feel called upon emphati-
cally to deny, and at the same time challenge you to substantiate them in any single
instance so far as I am concerned ; and I must be one of the " two or three men "
whom you charge with " the manipulation of evidence for the Royal Commission " for
inquiring into the grievances of the Highland Crofters. I believe I am one of the
only two who went over any portion of the ground hitherto visited by the Commis-
sioners, and if there could be any doubt about your including me among the " two or
three " against whom you make these charges, any such supposition is disposed of by
direct reference to me by name by yourself and by your Special Reporter on previous
occasions in connection with this question, when you refused to insert any reply to
your unwarrantable statements. Though, from my past experience of you, I expect
you to continue in the same unfair mood of mind, yet I shall send you my contradic-
tion, partly with the view, should you refuse it insertion, of getting it published
elsewhere.
The charges you make are as follows :—
" We said, and we repeat, that a great part of the evidence given by the Crofters
was carefully prepared beforehand by, or with the assistance of, two or three men
ROYAL COMMISSION AND "SCOTSMAN." 581
who were concerned to prove the allegations that have been made the foundation of
the Crofters' agitation for years past It will probably be thought that
this manipulation of the witnesses ought to be known to the public. The fact cannot
be truthfully denied," &c.
Throughout the article you charge me, as one of " the two or three," with " con-
cocting" and "manipulating" the evidence, and with "the painful distortion and
misrepresentation of facts" presented to the Royal Commission ; for it happens that I
am the only one of "the two or three" who visited any portion of the Isle of Skye ; or
of the Long Island, from Barra Head to the Sound of Harris ; or from Ullapool to
Lochcarron on the West Coast. In these circumstances, I must request you to publish
the following categorical denial of your charges repeatedly made : —
1st. I have not written a single line of a single statement presented to the Com-
mission.
2nd. I have not seen one of the statements, except a hurried glance at one or two
at the church in Glendale after the Commissioners had actually arrived at the church.
I did not. suggest the alteration of a single word in those that I saw, and not a word
was altered.
3rd. In every case I not only had not written anything myself, but I invariably
recommended the people to write or tell their grievances in their own way, and not to
go even to their minister or schoolmaster, so as not to sacrifice the simplicity of their
story for any literary polish which these gentlemen might give it in translating, or
extending it in more correct English when first written by some of the people them-
selves in that language.
4th. My meetings were public, and almost without exception in a public build-
ing— a church or school-house, one of the ministers or some leading local gentleman
presiding. I impressed upon the people the importance of the inquiry, and the
necessity of expressing their grievances, if they had any, then or never ; but I strongly
urged upon them the great importance of not overstating, but rather of understating
them, in view of the use you and others would be sure to make of any incorrect state-
ment unintentionally made by them.
5th. Evidence to prove the truthfulness of these statements, and the baselessness
of "your charges, so far as they refer to me, by implication or otherwise, will be forth-
coming, even to satisfy the Scotsman, and if such charges be persisted in I shall be
reluctantly obliged to provide you with a suitable opportunity of substantiating them.
6th. Personally, I have no interest in the question raised as to whether the Royal
Commissioners did or did not indicate any desire that " outside agitators" or others
should prepare their statements for the crofters. I never heard of this allegation until
now, but that the Commissioners, through their chairman, did thank people for pre-
paring the crofters' statements is beyond question. At Isle Ornsay the Rev. Finlay
Grarnm said [I quote from the Scotsman's report], " The documents which have been
given in from the several townships [in Sleat] were prepared by the parish minister
and myself. I do not know that Mr Cameron agrees with what is in them, but they
are a correct statement of the wishes of the people. We thought we had a duty to
perform in preparing the people for the Royal Commission, and we did the work
together." To this statement the chairman, Lord Napier, replied, " We are very
much obliged to you.'1''
So long as you do not misrepresent my sayings and doings, I care not how severely
you criticise them or me. — Yours, &c.,
ALEX. MACKENZIE,
Dean of Guild of Inverness.
582 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
NETHER-LOCHABER: THE NATURAL HISTORY, LEGENDS, AND
FOLK-LORE OF THE WEST HIGHLANDS. By the Rev. ALEXANDER
STEWART, F.S.A. Scot. Edinburgh : William Paterson.
To all true Highlanders throughout the world the name of
" Nether-Lochaber" is a household word ; and all such will gladly
welcome the volume which has now appeared. For the last
quarter of a century the Rev. Mr Stewart, minister of Ballachulish,
has written a letter once a fortnight for the Inverness Courier,
made up of descriptions of Highland scenery, of natural history,
of folk-lore, of Gaelic poetry, tradition and legend, and of such
other subjects as came in his way in the quiet manse on the
shores of Loch-Linnhe. Many men, -placed like Mr Stewart, in
a secluded district of the country, remote from the influences that
excite mental effort, rest content with the discharge of their ordinary,
duty, and slip into a quiet, easy routine, productive of intellectual
drowsiness, sometimes amounting to actual torpor. But Nether-
Lochaber enjoys the gift of an active and retentive mind. His
memory is well stored with youthful reading ; he manages in some
wonderful manner, known to himself alone, to keep abreast of the
literature of the day ; and better even than the culture which he
has acquired from books, is the lore which he has picked up in
his own experience, in his rambles among the hjlls or along the
shore, in his visits to humble cottages, and in his talks with the
men and women whom he meets in their daily vocations. If
there is anything interesting in any human being within the
range of Mr Stewart's acquaintance, he is sure to draw it out and
turn it to account. The fisherman mending his nets — the shep-
herd coming from the hillside — the gamekeeper careful of eggs
and birds — the University Professor on his summer holiday — the
parish doctor and the neighbouring clergyman — all like to meet
with Nether-Lochaber and talk their best when in his company.
His own genial and happy nature casts its atmosphere around
every person with whom he converses. Going about with ears
and eyes ever open, he is equally ready to learn and to impart.
From a full and fresh mind he pours forth his own stores, and
realises in ample measure the reward of the man who scatters and
yet increases. Thus it happens that Mr Stewart has become the
poet-naturalist of Nether-Lochaber, and has invested it with the
charm of his sunny humour and cheerful imagination.
" NETHER-LOCHABER." S8
The volume before us is a collection of letters extending
over ten years, from 1868 to 1878. It is dedicated to Dr
Campbell of Ballachulish, " in pleasant recollection of happy
hours at Onich and Craigrannoch, and of many a delightful
midsummer ramble." Only a few weeks ago we had the pleasure
of meeting Mr Stewart in Inverness, on one of his summer trips,
with Dr Campbell as his companion. In a prefatory note to the
volume, the author tells us that he has allowed the papers to
retain very much the form in which they first attracted attention,
believing that any good that would result from re-writing or re-
constructing would be dearly purchased if it interfered with their
directness of phrase and freshness of local colouring. In this we
believe Mr Stewart has been well advised. The book is divided
into chapters, and forms in a way a connected whole ; yet the
freedom of the epistolary style has been preserved, and the
reader enjoys to the full its colloquial facility and unimpaired
breezy aroma. The opening chapter begins with an allusion to
the primroses and daisies of early March, forming a graceful
introduction to a work which deals so largely with the external
aspects of nature. The second chapter describes the glories of
October — the ripe, ruddy, bloom of the heather, the brown
brackens mantling the mountain side, and the tints of the birch,
alder, and hazel fringing the mountain torrent—
"As you gaze on such a scene as this you feel that no painter could paint it ;
that there is a something in it all too subtile and spiritual to be transferred to canvas
by any art whatever. An imitation, indeed, of all that is palpable and tangible about
it you may get, and it may be very beautiful perhaps, and a triumph of art in a way ;
but even as you gaze in admiration, ready to grant the artist all the praise that is his
due, are you not apt, remembering the scene as nature has it, to
' Start, for sottl is wanting there.' "
Our limits do not allow us to indulge in quotation, but we think
it only just to say that the descriptive passages are of rare
beauty, never too long, but always true and impressive, touched
with that poetic art which is a natural endowment, never a pro-
duct of culture. An artist in words, Mr Stewart does not merely
photograph a scene, but reveals its inner spirit and latent sug-
gestiveness. As a translator of Gaelic poetry he attains marked
success. There are comparatively few specimens of his skill in
this field in the volume before us, but those that are given are so
584 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE.
exquisite in workmanship, that beautiful as the prose is, we could
sacrifice some of it for the sake of further efforts in verse. His
rendering of a Gaelic poem is no bald, literal transcript ; it is a
poem by itself, perfect in its English dress, and yet preserving
all that is most characteristic and attractive in the original. In
Highland history, legend, and tradition, Nether-Lochaber is
equally at home. The truth is, the reader feels inclined to ask,
what is it that he does not know ? At any rate we willingly
resign ourselves to his guidance and instruction in these charming
pages, knowing that we are safe in his hands, and never dreaming
of uttering a protest either against his scientific or his literary
judgments.
THE HIGHLANDERS OF NEW ZEALAND AND
THEIR DISTRESSED COUNTRYMEN AT HOME.
IN addition to the handsome subscription of £8$. 153., received
by the Editor of the Celtic Magazine, from the Highlanders of
Invercargill, New Zealand, for distressed Highlanders at home,
another contribution of £62. 145. was received by him on the
2/th of August, accompanied by the following letter : —
" INVERCARGILL, NEW ZEALAND, i2th July 1883.
"ALEXANDER MACKENZIE, Esq., Dean of Guild, Inverness.
" DEAR SIR, — In terms of our letter of the I5th ult., we have again the pleasing
duty of handing you enclosed a draft on London [for £62. 145.], being an additional
amount collected for the relief of our distressed countrymen. The enclosed list
contains the names of the contributors. May we ask you to publish it in your valuable
Celtic Magazine, as also in the Inverness Courier. We may add that these subscrip-
tions were in all cases voluntary on the part of the subscribers. The cause had simply
to be mentioned by the collectors, and they at once received a ready response.
Although, in our last letter, we asked you to apply these funds in Skye and adjacent
islands, if there are any other parts of the Highlands that you think should participate,
by all means do not neglect them. We -beg to assure you that we have every con-
fidence in your impartiality, and we leave the matter in your hands. We sincerely
hope that the distress may be somewhat abated by this time, and that good results
may arise from the Royal Commission now sitting, the proceedings of which are
keenly watched by the Highlanders here. We expect very shortly to send you a
further contribution. — Yours faithfully,
(Signed) " D. L. MATHESON,
" RODERICK MACLEOD."
THE HIGHLANDERS OF NEW ZEALAND. 585
The following is a list of the subscriptions : —
Alexander Macnab of Knapdale ... ... ... ......... jCS ° °
Southland Times Company, Invercargill ... ... ...... p>< 330
James Fullarton, Riverton ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 220
Hon. J. A. R. Menzies, Dunalister ... ... ... 220
Reginald Mackinnon, Mount Linton, Southland ... ... ... ... 220
Robert M. Maccallum, Edendale, late of Argyllshire ... ...... 200
John Fraser, Gore ; Hugh Cameron, Mataura ; D. B. Esther, Gore ;
C. Basstian, Woodstock ; Green & Souness, Gore ; Duncan R. Mac-
donald, Invercargill ; John Thompson, draper, do. ; Wm. Fraser, Go-
vernor, H.M. Gaol, Invercargill ; John Turnbull, manager, N.Z.L. and
M.A. Company, Invercargill ; Alexander Dean, Otautau ; Allan Car-
michael, do.; Fleming, Gilkison, & Co. Gore; Duncan Kennedy, late
of Applecross, Ross-shire ; Alexander Macdonald, Ardross, Wyndham ;
Jessie Macmaster and F. S. Canning, Gore ; Alexander Matheson,
Wyndham; P. F. Monaghan, Gore— one guinea each ... ... ... 1717 o
Samuel Kerr, Spar Bush ; John Gee, Pyramids ; John Macintyre, Lime-
stone Plains ; Flora Mackinnon, Invercargill ; Samuel J. Deck, do. ;
A. Friend, C. A. do. ; Roderick Macdonald, Wyndham Valley ; Dun-
can Macdonald, do.; John Macdonald, do.; Kenneth Macdonald, do.;
William Pool, do.; Colin Macphail, Redan Valley; Kenneth Mac-
donald, Ferndale, Wyndham ; John Craig, carpenter, do. ; Andrew
Noble, farmer, do.; John Macdonald, Mabel Bush ; William Menzies,
Glenure ; J. O. Macardell (manager British and N.Z.M. and A. Co.),
Invercargill; Benjamin Ross, contractor, Wyndham — £i each ... 19 o o
John Campbell, Wyndham Valley ; Murdoch Maclennan, Wyndham ;
Hugh Stuart, Gore— IDS 6d each ... ... ... ... ... ... I II 6
John Templeton, Wyndham ; David Milne, do.; A Friend, dc.; Mackay
and Co., do.; Hugh Livingstone, do.; Archibald Mackay, Glendalc ;
David Rennie, Invercargill ; David Sutherland, do.; W. H. Mathieson,
do.; James Ramsay, jun., Wyndham; Robert Campbell, Otautau;
James Grant, do. ; Thomas Maclean, Mount Linton ; John Melville,
do.; John Macdonald, do.; William Marshall, do.; Hugh Littlejohn,
do.; Andrew Duncan, do. — IDS each ... ... ... ... ... 900
John Heallywood, Wyndham ... ... ... ... ... .. ... 070
William Cameron, Makarewa ; George Stuart, Jacobs River ; John King,
Otautau; Duncan Maciver, do. ; William Strang, Invercargill; Hugh
Graham, do. — 55 each ... ... ... ... ... ... ••• I 10 o
AFriend, Invercargill ........................
Total ............ ... £6$ 17 o
Less expenses ... .. ... ••• ••• ••• 33°
Amount remitted ........ .£62 14 o
To secure the proper distribution of the money, Mr Mackenzie,
visited the Isle of Skye, where, personally, and through those
best acquainted with the real state of the people, he distributed
586 THE CELTIC MAGAZINE
three tons of oatmeal (supplied expressly at a very low price, by
Mr John Macdonald, merchant, Inverness), and some £50 in
cash. Half-a-ton of meal has also been forwarded to Uist and
Barra ; while cash is being sent to Lewis, Gairloch, Lochbroom,
Durness, in Sutherland ; etc. Our friends abroad will be glad to
learn that there is now no actual distress, beyond that usual in any
ordinary year, in the country. Indeed, except in the Island of
Lewis, it was greatly exaggerated from the beginning.
DROVING IN 1746.
An esteemed correspondent supplies the following :—
" Permit the bearer, James M'Nab, Drover in Craig of Glenorchy, who goes
with two servants to purchase and bring black cattle from Kintail and the Isle of Skye,
to pass to and from these countrys, with their arms, alwise behaving themselves as
Loyall subjects to his Majesty. Given under my hand, at Inveraray, the Eleventh
day of December 1746 years.
(Signed) ARCH. CAMPBELL, SH. DT.
" To all Officers, Civil and Military.'''
It is endorsed as follows: — "Pass to James M'Nab, Drover in Glenorchy,
II December, 1746, By Mr Archibald Campbell of Stonefield, Advocat Sheriff
Depute of the Sheriffdome of Argyll."
QUERY.
THE NAME REOCH. — Can you, or any of your readers, give me any information
with regard to the name Reoch ; whether those bearing it belonged to any clan, &c. ?
Their country seems to have lain in Strathspey, as Chambers states (Domestic Annals
of Scotland, Vol. II., p. 306), that a number of Reochs were concerned in disturb-
ances there in the year 1666. To what event does the song called "Lord Reoch 's
daughter" refer? RIABHACH.
COMPLETION OF OUR EIGHTH VOLUME.— This number completes
our eighth annual volume. A glance at the Table of Contents, issued herewith, will
at once convince the reader that a mass of valuable matter has been brought together,
and that the volume is at least equal, in all respects, to any of its predecessors. We
are glad to say that our efforts are well appreciated by the public, for the number and
quality of our subscribers were never so high as at present. The first number jumped at
one bound into a large circulation, which has continued to increase steadily ever since.
If every subscriber were only to secure one friend, the Celtic Magazine could be made
a yet much more potent influence for good in the country. No effort will be spared
on our part to make it still more worthy of support.
THE HISTORY OF CIVILISATION IN SCOTLAND.— The third volume
of this work, by John Mackintosh, Aberdeen, will appear in October.
r
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